Here's the thing.
White people have always been partners in this fight for civil rights. So to see Eminem in the Bet Hip Hop cypher wasn't too far-fetched. As a matter of fact, I could totally expect that he would be there (especially if he has an album coming out soon).
But here, in this air of inequality, the stench of murdered bodies laid out in the middle of the streets of USA, and a president who openly mocks the drowning residents from Puerto Rico (our USA territory) as well as calls grown ass men who play for the NFL SOB's, we just passed the mic to a white man and elevated him as a voice in this movement.
Why are we so excited when white people voice their opinions and voice their support for this movement? This is an everyday struggle and we don't need more cosigners. We need action. And we need more action by brown people.
And while it's cool that Michael Rappaport speaks out against injustice as well, I'm just a bit confused as to why we passed the mic to a white man and patted him on the back for speaking out against social injustices. We continue to think that access to larger outlets can only be obtained by white people. So we are effectively using them for the same white privilege that we scorn them for having.
Look, I'm not saying that white people don't get it. I'm not saying that they aren't down for the cause. I'm saying, where are our leaders? Why are we not passing the mic to them and jumping on the bandwagon to follow them? It's because we are too busy waiting for Kaepernick and other athletes to take the lead, ready to crucify them if they don't speak up in a public arena. Meanwhile, most didn't even vote in your local elections and didn't see the value in voting in the last presidential election. Until now.
Something's got to give, because we continue to place attention in all of the wrong places. Thinking that someone else is coming to save us. That this movement is someone else's responsibility. So while black folks are sitting on social media today arguing about whether or not Eminem bodied that cypher, there are real news issues going on worth discussing- AND developing action to make change happen.
Call it what you want. You need #balance, right? You need to discuss the stories that matter and the ones that don't. I get it. But while you fill your mind with all of those frivolous things, another black person loses their life at the hand of the police and society in general, brown folks in Puerto Rico remain underwater weeks after a natural disaster, and Flint, Michigan still doesn't have proper water.
When are we as black people going to step up to the plate and take full responsibility for our lives, our families, and our communities?
I'll wait for you all to stop scrolling through #BGM to seriously answer my question.
