Characters

Childish Gambino is the main character of the music video for “This is America”. Childish Gambino is the rap persona of actor, writer, and rapper Donald Glover. In the music video Gambino rapidly shifts between two extreme moods: the violent murderer and the happy entertainer. 

The music video also features other characters such as a group of black school children that dance with Gambino and who can also be seen carefully handling Gambino’s guns and dragging the bodies away after the shootings. A black gospel choir and a hooded rider on a white horse also feature in the video. 

You can read a full characterization of Gambino’s character, as well as the other characters and what they might represent, on the following pages.