John Legend’s and Common’s song “Glory” acts as a voice for people all around the world that have experienced oppression throughout their entire lives. “Glory” reassures us that one day, racial equality will be achieved. Moreover, one day, racism will not longer have a place in our society. Throughout the whole song, Legend and Common provide a sense of comfort to their audience as they encourage us to not lose hope and to keep fighting the battle against racism.

John Legend and Common performed “Glory” at the Democratic National Convention in 2020. It is a extremely emotional performance as it opens with Legend sitting down, playing the piano and singing while repeating the lyrics, “One day when glory comes, it will be ours.” Shortly after the opening, we see Common appear on stage and beginning his first rap verse of the song which demands racial equality and depicts the history of Rosa Parks and the March on Ferguson. The delivery of this performance allows us to further understand the meaning and impact of this song as the performance itself portrays the heart breaking divide in our society that our world currently endures. As Legend continues with the performance he sings, “Now the war is not over, victory isn’t won” the stage lights up bright and shows the African American back up singers that surround Legend from all sides of the stage. This performance emphasizes the idea of unity when it comes to “Glory.” Furthermore, not only those who battle racism everyday, but also those who desire a change have vailed to come together as one to end this issue. We then see at the end of the performance, Legend and Common stand together on stage with their arms up further showing the strong empowerment of this song.

10 year old Gabby North performed her own cover of Legend’s and Common’s song “Glory.” Similar to Legend’s and Common’s performance, North’s performance is also quite emotional. Since she is so young, this performance allows us to better understand that all ages within the Black community have been affected by experiencing racism. North’s performances emphasizes the impact that racism has had on her life. It allows us to understand the meaning of “Glory” better as North, a little girl, realizes that racial inequality is still very apparent in our world. The performance opens with North playing the piano and singing. She then incorporates her own original rap verse in the song instead of Common’s verse which is obviously very empowering when we hear it. During her rap verse, we see young African American kids behind her holding up signs that read, “We are the now,” “On our way to glory,” “No abuse,” “No hating” and “Stop bullying.” By this, we are able to further understand the issues that young members of the African American community face throughout their daily lives. North says, “No one can win this war individually.” Here, North is urging for peace, hope, forgiveness and unity which is some of the notions that the song “Glory” stands for.