India Arie - What If [Video]

Grammy-winning soul singer India Arie returns with ‘What If,’ a powerful single paying homage to African American activists who led the civil rights movements.

“What if Martin didn’t stand up, what if Rosa didn’t sit down. What if Malcolm didn’t man up, where would we be now,” sings Arie. The song tributes black trailblazers who became prominent activists in American civil rights history. The video is befitting to the lyrics, with black and white visuals using archive footage as well as illustrated lyrics flashing across the screen. The empowering chorus becomes Arie’s battle cry, “We are the ones we've been waiting for. We can change the world."

Even though ‘What If’ is a celebration of historical black figures who came before, the video also highlights the current political climate, reminding us that the scream for equality is still loud today. We see imagery of activities from the Black Lives Matter protests and from the picket lines of the Women's March, which took place last year against the Trump administration. The last part of the video includes images of modern-day excellence who have become key figures in representation of the black community, images of actress Viola Davis, tennis player Serena Williams and even the Iconic Oprah.

‘What If’ follows on from ‘That Magic,’ both taken from Arie’s eighth studio album ‘Worthy’ which is set to release on February 15th 2019.

You can pre-order ‘Worthy’ now and watch the video for ‘What If’ below.