The video begins with Rihanna standing on the stairs of a building on which wall is a big American flag . During the moment , shadows of a number of people are screened on the wall . Scenes are intercut with a moment from the inauguration of the first ever black American president , Barack Obama . As the song begins Rihanna is shown singing the lyrics in front of a giant American flag . Other scenes such as rising up the flag , peaceful protests and imagery of a typical American family are also shown . Those are followed by inserts which include Martin Luther King Jr. and an American slave . Other scenes such as immigration in the country , the Apollo 11 , the 1968 Olympics Black Power salute , Beatlemania , Occupy Wall Street , September 11 attacks and Black Lives Matter are also presented throughout the clip . At one point Rihanna is seen wearing a parachute suit while a big parachute is hanging on her back , struggling to crawl with it . It ends with Rihanna losing off her parachute . She looks in the camera " intently " and " tilts her head in a mildly defiant , almost challenging way "
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
American Oxygen