Black People Must Stand Up Against Toxic Hip Hop and Rick Ross Mastermind

Dr. Boyce Watkins talks about his recent article about the rapper Rick Ross, who used the name of Trayvon Martin in one of his songs. Dr. Watkins says that the African American community should stand up against toxic hip-hop artists and hold them accountable for the language that they use. He also says that the African American community must work to move forward against the forces that are designed to oppress us.
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Four Reasons why Rick Ross needs to leave Trayvon’s Name out of his mouth by Dr. Boyce Watkins

I think I speak for a lot of normal black people when I say that I sometimes grow tired of the rapper Rick Ross.  Ross has always been a creative, yet relatively useless public figure in the past, but his recent disrespect for the legacy of Trayvon Martin might be the straw that breaks the fat man’s back.  Rick’s use of Trayvon’s name in the song “Mastermind” could be subject to interpretation, and he’s being very careful to try to brush it over.  But when you put these lyrics into context by analyzing the entirety of what Ross represents, you realize that, for this particular artist, using the name “Trayvon Martin” in any song isn’t usually going to do anything for anyone but himself.

I love hip-hop music more than any other artform and I am friends with quite a few artists.  So, this makes me that much more comfortable pointing out the rappers who stand up for real black men vs. the corporatized buffoons who are sending black men off the edge of a cliff. ...  Read more of this article