Walter Scott, Freddie Carlos Gray, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and countless others have represented an upswing in attention paid toward black males gunned down by police officers throughout the nation over the past couple of years. Obviously, Hip Hop has inevitably followed suit. Everyone from J Cole, T.I., Talib Kweli, Kendrick Lamar, Crooked I, Young Thug and everyone in between have delivered their thoughts via rhyme, tweet or interview. It’s their responsibility right? Hip Hop’s connection to black culture has always been bound tightly against white supremacy in ways that could be described as either subtle or flat-out confrontational. Pushing back against authorities who abuse their power is essentially necessary. This makes the overwhelming silence from the same Hip Hop strange considering the current news cycle revolving around Sandra Bland.
For those out of the loop, Bland was a black woman found dead in a Houston jail days after being detained following a routine traffic stop where she allegedly assaulted a police officer. According to reports, the Prairie View A&M graduate was on her way from Chicago for a position at the esteemed Historically Black College’s agriculture department. Contradictory accounts of events leading to her death (or murder) and unreliable video footage sound as fishy as a Baltimore paddy wagon ride leading to a severed spine. Bland was my age, 28-years-old.
In addition to the brutal assault of teenager Dajerra Becton along with the shooting deaths of Rekia Boyd, Aiyanna Jones and Shereese Francis, the “Say Her Name” movement has emerged as a singular voice in police violence against black women. A much-needed movement that hasn’t been mentioned much within Hip Hop. Even with the controversy regarding Bland’s death, there hasn’t been the amount of force seen as with the men mentioned above. Only a handful of artists mentioning Bland on social media including Nicki Minaj, OG Maco, 9th Wonder and Trina. However, there isn’t a major push behind it like the many dead black man hashtag movements.
Then again, the disenfranchisement of African American women has become the norm and Hip Hop has always reflected various angles of black America. There’s a specific reason why many rallied behind Kendrick Lamar and YG during their various Grammy snubs, yet didn’t give Minaj the same appreciation this week during her MTV Video Awards. Yes, the visual for “Anaconda” is nothing but an ass shaking-fest(that I thoroughly enjoy). But, the underlying themes of racism or “cultural smugging” are still present. In fact, she was eventually given the “angry black women” title before Taylor Swift inserted herself into controversy and later reconciled with Minaj. Unfortunately, this is fairly common. No one even dared to question Dr. Dre’s alleged beating women of color ranging from Michel’le to Denise “Dee” Barnes. Then there was the moments where both Action Bronson and T.I. threatened violence against Azealia Banks for her now standard annoying Twitter rants. Regardless of how stupid Banks’ tweets are, those types of statements rarely get checked. At this point for many, it is what it is.
The pain and brutalization of black women by police rarely gets noticed. Recently, things reached a tipping point as Bland became yet another victim. This is the same woman who fight hard for black men facing over-policing through various video post and becoming an active member of the Black Lives Matter movement. A look at Bland’s Facebook page also shows that she was an avid fan Hip Hop. Maybe it’s time the culture unites to return the favor and do something. While everyone laughs at the ridiculousness of Action Bronson vs. Ghostface Killah, Meek Mill’s string of tweets or Drake’s ghostwriting allegations remember Hip Hop’s duty to the community at large.
Yo “always giving guys oral” do you work for the man? All you doing is being divisive, uppity and paranoid. Stop writing editorials you fucks are NOT journalist
Umm the fact that you cannot even spell these females names correctly puts you right in the mix. Hypocritical dumb fuck
You are asking corporate rappers to be activists. Most of these people are employees who don’t have as much control as you think. But you should know this already. Why aren’t you petitioning the corporations that produce, market, and distribute rap music to address these issues? You are complaining to the employees instead of the owners.
As far as Ms. Bland is concerned, the autopsy states that her injuries are consistent with suicide. She apparently attempted suicide before and spoke about this and her depression on Facebook. Until evidence shows otherwise, you should stop with rumors and innuendo suggesting foul play. Also, she was in jail for two or three days and her family and friends wouldn’t even get $500 together to bond her out.
Nobody’s restraining these rappers from speaking their minds about the matter
Freddie Gray and Eric Garner weren’t “gunned down”. Band’s autopsy shows clear suicide. Try not sucking again tomorrow. Thanks.
*Bland’s
It was murder, not suicide. This whole thing stinks of murder.
I’m glad someone mentioned this.
Drake, meek are good, making money don’t care about the community or the issues affecting the lives of their fans. It is a shame that the members of the very same community that made them stars get nothing in return. However, being an artist doesn’t mean you have to be an activist and why should one fee obligated to speak on these issue. I know this is contradictory but at what point is it acceptable?
It’s true that sexism is a big part of Hip-Hop, and black culture. Anyone would be hard pressed to deny that. With that said, the women in Hip-Hop are just as much of a culprit in perpetuating this sexism. I’ve been around for a while, I’ve lived through many eras of Hip-Hop, and the whole time, all I’ve seen from women in Hip-Hop is total compliance with the sexism towards women, they even celebrate it. There have been very few female MCs who have not marketed themselves with sex being the foundation of their image. These songs that are horribly degrading to women are mostly being bought and chanted by women. These songs are made because women love them. Even the women in my family, admittedly, love the “ratchet” songs and “strip club anthems”. If women were truly offended by these songs, they would cease to be popular. Just like Pac said, most times guys just buy whatever the girls like. I rarely meet women who want to hear something ‘conscious’. I’m not justifying this sexism, but the first step has to be that the ones who are being offended have to actually BE offended. They’re NOT. Who is really being offended by this? Mostly self-righteous dudes who are mad that these women are not living up to the wholesome image that mom and dad put in their minds. Hey, I’m with you. I’m mad too. I wish young women would have more self respect and self worth. I just don’t know that they want to. I don’t see any young women being offended by any of this. I just see them idol worshiping chicks like Nicki Minaj, and Kim Kardashian, and the housewives of whatever city. Even women I meet that seem sophisticated and ‘aware’, when it comes down to it, they love all that ratchet shit. They can’t even deny it. These women are not home reading Florence Scovel Shin books and listening to India Arie. They’re watching “Hip-Hop Wives” and listening to trap music. There’s more women in the strip clubs than niggas!! Where is the women’s responsibility to speak up for themselves? or support the few women who do speak up?
Hey Hip-Hop DX, how about doing your part though? All I see on here is gossip and ‘beef’ stories that fuel the raging fire of ignorance in the black community. How about YOU sacrificing a few dollars in order to make a positive difference? How about evening the scales of your content by mixing in some positive stuff with the 50 negative stories a day? How about having the stones to take a stand when it’s not popular to do so. Put your money where your mouth is and devote a week or a month to shedding light on the POSITIVE Hip-Hop music and POSITIVE Hip-Hop stories? Oh, my bad, you might lose a couple dollars, so you don’t wanna do that. I know, I know, it’s just business. But listen, this Hip-Hop culture is not just a business. If you think it is, then you don’t understand the magnitude and importance of hip-hop and the influence it has on young people, especially young black people who look to Hip-Hop as a life guide. Everybody wants to pass the responsibility on to someone else instead of doing their part. I know I’ll probably get blocked for this, ’cause I know the routine. Peace.