Without it, how can they stand strong when they meet with institutional racism and the persistent mindset that African-Americans are second-class citizens who can be shot in cold blood because their very presence offends or frightens others? We need to snatch up our young people and let them know that others came before them who lived and died to get us where we are today and that they were more than Black and white images, they were living breathing people who sacrificed family, friends, and often their lives for the greater good.
They were not just holidays and names to quote in a hip-hop song. They were patriots who wanted justice for our people and the chance to let freedom ring in a country that paid lip service to that ideal but denied it to too many of its citizens. If we haven’t taught Nicki anything, then we haven’t done nothing, as another great Black man said.
It’s Black History Month. Teach somebody something, buy someone a book, or mentor a young person. Do it not just this month, but all year. Because if you support this mess, by saying it doesn’t matter or that you bear no responsibility in it, then, well, you’re just part of the problem.
Note: Minaj has responded to complaints via her Instagram and taken the offending image down from hersocial media sites.
WTH? Nicki Minaj Uses Malcolm X Image for New Single was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
