Longing For The Days Of “Edu-tainment”

Malinda Williams tweeted…

For those of you who may be a little slow & need a refresher:  Malinda Williams is an actress best known for her roles as Erica Wright in the 1996 movie A Thin Line Between Love & Hate, Young Alicia in the 1999 movie The Wood, & as the hair stylist Tracy “Bird” Van Adams in the Showtime drama Soul Food (June 2000 – May 2004).  Aside from her being a great Black actress, the woman is unbelievably gorgeous…but I digress.

But back to this tweet tho…

After the deaths of Eric Garner & Mike Brown, social media has been screaming for celebrities to speak up & say something.  A lot have & a lot have chosen to remain silent.  Either way, I could honestly give two fucks if a celebrity decided to speak up and say something.  A celebrity voicing their opinion is not going to make or break anything.  But what has caught my attention (sort of) is this desperate cry from social media for RAPPERS to speak up.  Let’s get something straight right now:  Black society does NOT need the current flock of mainstream rappers to speak up to address the issues going on with Black society or police brutality.  The most these rappers could do is to possibly help shine a bigger light on the problem, temporarily until their next shucking & jiving coon anthem drops.  Now I do understand that there are some rappers who are about that activist lifestyle such as Talib Kweli & friends, but for the most part, the last person I need to hear “speaking up” is some knee grow (too include Charles Barkley) who constantly creates music that basically helps to perpetuate the stereotype of the Black community in regards to how the dominant society chooses to see us in order to justify their actions against us.  Finally, the LAST THING I need to hear from social media are people bitching about why Iggy Azalea & Justin Beiber choose not to speak out; regardless of their of crimes of being culture vultures.

So in the midst of wanting to digitally slap everyone on my social media timelines who kept pushing these narratives for celebrities to speak out, I was glad to come across Malinda Williams’s tweet about rappers that created “Edu-tainment”.  Celebrities, rappers, singers, etc. who constantly kept the message about the struggles of Black society in the forefront at all times.  These entertainers understood how powerful & influential their platforms were & used their celebrity to address the ills of society, not just because it was the “thing” to do for day, but because shit was real & needed to be addressed damn near everyday.  These entertainers lived by the saying art imitates life.  Most of today’s mainstream artists…I don’t know what the fuck they live by nor do I really give a damn which is why I see absolutely no need for them to speak up & say shit.  Take this Young Thug interview for instance when he was asked his thoughts on the situation in Ferguson…

Who the fuck cares what Young Thug has to say about Mike Brown, Ferguson, & police brutality…but then again, I have to slightly give Young Thug props on being completely honest about not choosing to give his opinion & strictly wanting to keep the conversation on being “iced out”.

Lastly…

Malinda Williams mentioned Tupac in her tweet & I’m glad she did.  If there was ever a rapper/entertainer who understood the power of his celebrity & thoroughly used his craft to address the issues of the times in a manner as to which the most hood nigga on the block along with the most uppity Carlton Banks type could comprehend it….it was Tupac.  As young & dynamic of a person Tupac was, the brotha was a true visionary well beyond his years which unfortunately wasn’t truly appreciated during his lifetime as it has been since his death.  Tupac was a rare breed of a rapper/entertainer who truly lived the art he created.  The fantasies he painted were his realities which is why I believe so many admired him as an artist because he was literally keeping it real the entire time with absolutely nothing to hide.  I came across this video a few days after Malinda Williams posted that tweet & it was almost like perfect timing.  This video below exemplifies how iconic, legendary, & visionary Tupac was at just the age of 22.  What he discusses in this video could easily EASILY be applied to the situations presently taking place in society.  So if people are starving for celebrities to speak on their behalf, my suggestion is find celebrities who stay in the trenches even when the cameras are not on them and they can clearly articulate the plight of the people within the struggle…as Tupac did.  Enjoy.