The plight of Black folks is bound to escape the limited confines of many talk radio and lunch room venting sessions. And Hip-Hop, like Black life in general, is wrought with pain and struggle. Art reflects the people and if we want Hip-Hop to change, we have to love ourselves enough to change. Record deals don't change people, they only give folks a greater platform to be the fools or social activists they already were.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Edward M. Garnes Jr. is an Atlanta based award-winning writer, activist, and educator who holds a M.A. in Counseling from Michigan State University. Garnes is the founder of From Afros to Shelltoes: Art, Action, and Conversation, an organization offering cultural productions that champion emotional healing, solution focused dialogue, and arts programming. His essay, "Sweet Tea Ethics: Black Luv, Healthcare, and Cultural Mistrust," appears in the 2007 NAACP Image Award-nominated collection, Not In My Family: AIDS in the African American Community. Edward Garnes can be reached at ed ::at:: afrostoshelltoes ::dot:: com
Saul William's Open Letter To Oprah Winfrey. 27 April 2007. BallerStatus.com
Coleman, Esther. Can Hip Hop Activists Battle the Bling?" NUBIANO Exchange. 13 January 2007. NUBIANO Project. Hunter-Kirby, Ayofemi. "Dear Black Woman, You Are Not a Victim." 18 April 2007. BlogCritics.com
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