Aloe Blacc’s inspiring anthem, “Other Side,” is the featured song in the PBS documentary Ferguson Rises. The tragic killing of teenager Michael Brown Jr. by Ferguson, Missouri, police launched the energetic rise of #BlackLivesMatter and a historical wave of racial justice activism. All of this directly motivated the singer/musician/producer to write “Other Side.” Blacc sings of the collective journeys we take in finding light and silver linings in the darkest of times.
“We’ve been to walls we couldn’t climb / And we chased the light that made us blind / But I know we can walk this road one step at a time… When the load is heavy, we can make it to the other side.”
In an interview for Independent Lens, Ferguson Rises filmmaker Mobolaji Olambiwannu told us about having the song come at the end of the film: “It basically says we’ve been through walls we couldn’t climb, and it’s talking about we can make it to the other side. That is ultimately what I want to leave people with, that none of us can come out of this life without experiencing pain and trauma, but we can make it to the other side together through community, through building relationships, through building trust, through supporting one another. So the song was important to leave people with, that everybody deserves to be free and that we can make it to the other side—because, together, I believe we can.”
