River by Leon Bridges - Stasis Theory

In the song "River", by Leon Bridges ,the main stasis is cause and effect. I believe that in this song police brutality has caused the degradation of the human spirit among the African-American community. This is first evident in the fact that throughout the music video there is a T.V. playing in the background with scenes that display police brutality. This shows that the issue of police brutality is always instilled in the minds of the African-American community and that they cannot escape this reality. They also in a sense have become paranoid because they are constantly thinking about this issue, and they have to face the reality that one day one of their own family members or friends could become a victim of police brutality. Another way that this song shows the degradation of the human spirit is when we see the young girl sitting at the door with a somber expression. This shows that her witnessing the continuous acts of police brutality, among African-Americans, has made her lose hope of seeing herself having a better future because of the color of her skin. She just sees herself as a target in society and nothing more. Also, in the music video an African-American man is laying on the floor breathing heavily as his child is crying in the other room. The man doesn't get up to attend to the crying baby like most parents would do as soon as they heard their child crying. Instead, he just lays there breathing heavy. This shows that police brutality, he being a direct victim of, has left him out of energy and is something he can't experience and just be able to continue to live his life with the same kind of drive and happiness.  We see the degradation of the human spirit continuously throughout the music video as everyone has somber expressions because of the constant news of an African-American dying under the actions of the police. This has made them lose hope in society, and  has made them feel like targets, one by one being taken down. The main argument would be that police brutality is causing the degradation of the human spirit among the African-American community.

~Kim Cerritos