five beautiful movements of music essays

Nonfiction essay collections on music always pique my interest. This vast, sweeping collection is about more than just music, though -- it's about lifting up marginalized Black voices and the impact of profound music for the sake of recognizing facets of the American experience as a person of color. I really appreciated how this book was structured with music and culture constantly at the forefront. From each of the five essay sections being "Movements," to every essay having some sort of reference to music, popular culture, historical performers and musicians, and specific songs (the Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin content were my faves), there's just so much here. I also loved the author's stylistic choice to use ampersands in every "On Times..." essay that begin each Movement. The two essays where we see the expected rule broken, where other prepositions and punctuation are used, really draws attention to the content. In general, I felt like I wanted to underline every other line in this book because Abdurraqib makes writing extremely profound sentiments in simple, heartwrenching prose look like a piece of cake. I can only imagine the amount of revision it took to get to these polished final versions, how sprawling the sentences may have started out just for the sake of getting a complete thought down on the page, but wow, I was continuously blown away. I also just adore how much I learned from every essay on topics I didn't even realize I was interested in. Like marathon dancing and dance competitions, for example. What a niche, random concept, with a rich, multilayered history. Abdurraqib always finds a way to connect every topic back to ideas of humanity, community, and the struggle of marginalized people groups, specifically African Americans. The personal connections he makes to his family and friends also shine in their vulnerability and dedication to detail. Once again, I was grateful and interested to learn as much as I did from the well-integrated research that each of these essays frames within a narrative that often feels like fiction, like the author just did some cool Googling and wants to share what they found with you in a way that's so far from condescending. My two favorite essays were "On Marathons and Tunnels" and "The Josephine Baker Monument Can Never Be Large Enough." I definitely recommend this book to any readers trying to read more nonfiction or break into the nonfiction genre. 



Some of my favorite quotes from Notes in Praise of Black Performance: A Little Devil in America:

"I’ve run out of language to explain the avalanche of anguish I feel when faced with this world, and so if I can’t make sense of this planet, I’m better off imagining another."

"And I realized then that this was yet another funeral. I was reminded, once again, that our grief decides when it is done with us."

"I am in love with the idea of partnering as a means of survival, or a brief thrill, or a chance to conquer a moment. Even if you and the person you are partnered with part ways walking into the sunlight after exiting a sweaty dance hall, or spinning off-camera after dancing your way down a line of your clapping peers."

"There is not enough distance between tragedies for my sadness to mature into anything else but another new monument obscuring the last new monument."

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