Aug 1, 2017 12:00:00 AM
From age 16, I was reading Malcolm X and reading Huey Newton—my album “The Autobiography” is inspired by “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” So I'm a person that's just informed, you know? Informed by some of the greatest thinkers, and started making music and spreading my voice, from people like Tupac and Common.Mensa said that he views it as his responsibility to help kids who are in a similar spot to him, “to lend a hand and a voice to people struggling.” These views are not new for him. In November, he spoke to Billboard about the cynicism that can crop up in young Black kids as they deal with things like the school-to-prison pipeline. “Before [age 13], sometimes I was in the White crowd, sometimes in the Black crowd, and I didn’t really fit into either,” says Mensa. “Once I became a young Black man, it felt like the decision was made for me.” Mensa isn’t the only Chicago-based hip hop artist talking about these issues. In October, Saba and Noname collaborated on a song, “Church/Liquor Store,” which derided the school-to-prison pipeline. On the song’s third verse, Noname cites the system failing so many Black kids these days: They sold, they sold They sold prison the way they pipeline Systematically lifeline Socially-conscious musicians are pushing the conversation about harsh educational practices that lead to disproportionate amounts of Black and Brown youth getting suspended or expelled from school, which lowers their options for further education or employment. When 68 percent of the U.S. prison population doesn’t have a high school diploma, it’s time to rethink how we treat kids who make mistakes in school.
Rob Samuelson is a Staff Writer at Education Post and Digital Media Manager for the brightbeam network.
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