The comments were made on the heels of a well-received and thought-provoking performance given by the rap superstar, who performed his hit song, “Alright” at the BET Awards last week. According to Rivera, who was joined by his fellow correspondents of FOX News’s The Five in their unwarranted criticisms of Lamar’s performance, stated the following:

“This is why I say that hip-hop has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism in recent years,” he added. “This is exactly the wrong message.”

Rivera wasn’t alone in his attack. Kimberly Guilfoyle implied that Kendrick Lamar’s standing upon a police car during the performance “incited violence”, and the other guests on the panel continued to chime in, providing condescending commentary throughout the video below.

 In response to the suspected white supremacist commentary of the conservative talk show participants, Kendrick Lamar gave a response. Here it is in the following video:

In his explanatory response to Rivera’s remarks, Kendrick simply illustrates how his performance at the BET Awards was actually done to shed light on the disturbing recent uptick of Melanoid victims being killed by race soldiers who act as police officers.

One of the items on the report showed an unlawful arrest made which involved a Melanoid man who was allowing his body temperature to cool down after participating in a basketball game on an outdoor public court in the summer of 2012. The arrest resulted in the Melanoid man receiving eight charges, one of the charges implied that he was not wearing a seatbealt, although he had been sitting in the parked car. Because of the charges that he faced, the Melanoid man lost a high profile job that he was employed by for years.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Justice Department will not convict former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson with federal civil rights charges, who senselessly murdered Melanoid teenager Mike Brown in August of 2014. The news from the Justice Department has re-ignited much of the outcry for justice from the Melanoid community of Ferguson that was heard and felt around the globe for much of the second half of 2014. U.S Attorney General Eric Holder stated Wednesday, March 4 that the animosity between the police officers in Ferguson and its Melanoid residents had created a “toxic” environment throughout the city.

Perhaps the most telling  statistic of this story is that between October 2012 and October 2014, Ferguson’s Melanoid community, which constitutes nearly 70 percent of the city’s overall population, were recipients of a disproportionate 85 percent of all traffic checks by the officers of Ferguson and were twice as likely to be searched after being stopped.

by B. Clark

That isn’t necessarily a response someone would expect from an expert in regards to issues within the Black community. This statement was actually made by famous rapper Young Thug. While some may consider his comment offensive or even funny, it does bring up a good question: Should Black celebrities speak on the issues affecting the African American community?

There’s already a variety of famous Black people that speak on social issues pertaining to African Americans. Their comments, however, are usually only during periods of racial turmoil; specifically when Blacks are the victims of overt racism. The situations with Donald Sterling, Riley Cooper and Paula Deen are the first to come to many people’s mind. These celebrities usually criticize the racist briefly and then shift the conversation to the problem with Blacks. There are very few public figures who give genuine assessments of the problems within the community.

Some people argue that despite their fame, Black celebrities are not obligated to speak on issues within the community. They are paid to do a specific job and that’s it. The responsibility they have to address issues within the Black community is no more than any other person who’s not rich and famous. Others will argue that based on the unique predicament of African Americans within this country, these celebrities should to use their statuses as a platform to help with the problems.

Regardless of where anyone stands, they’d have to acknowledge the fact that most celebrities received their statuses from the same sources of power Blacks are often at odds with. The idea these figures would risk their success to challenge that power is unlikely. In fact, some will even defend it.

For this reason, it makes sense for Blacks to create and support media outlets dedicated to their own causes. The more control African Americans have on their media sources, the less dependent they are on public figures controlled by outside forces. These outlets can also serve as tools to challenge those using their status to defend White Supremacy.

Kevin White