(1) There goes that bullshit again. “Jesse Jackson is a player hater.” Come on, Nas, not you too.

(2) This is not about the old guard vs. the new. The fact that Obama doesn’t cater to issues viewed as “black issues” (which are “black issues” only because white Americans really don’t give a fuck about ending endemic racism) doesn’t mean he’s trying to unify America, it means he’s trying to become President, which he couldn’t if white Americans actually thought he’d change anything. The Military Industrial Complex, the Prison Industrial Complex, American imperialism overseas, unsustainable capitalistic economics, shitacular education… I don’t see Barack Obama doing a fucking thing about any of it; but that’s fine, ’cause niggas have drunk the Kool Aid and will march happily into the nearest voting booth come Nov. and elect someone who doesn’t give a shit, as long as he says he does.

Don’t get it twisted, though, ’cause I know there are some ignorant motherfuckers who will read this: McCain is the devil. Vote for Obama.

Also, I love how Nas talks about his voice, and Banner’s voice and (OMFG, really?) Jeezy’s voice and how we don’t need niggas like Jesse anymore… like, really? When was the last time Nas came to NY and led a protest or a march or a riot or any thing? Your music is inspirational, nigga, but you’re a fuckin ghost. Don’t nobody see you comin’ to the ‘hood to do a fucking thing, so sit yo’ bitch ass down and write some rhymes or somethin’.

Moneda- as a white American and Obama supporter, I can tell I want to see endemic racism ended. But JJ is a symptom, not a solution. When Bill Cosby or Obama tells black men to stay at home with their kids instead of running around in the streets, they get called out. If you can’t fix the problems in your own community you are responsible for (it ain’t the white man’s fault if you got 2 kids by two daddies who aren’t at home), don’t come asking for my sympathy. You want equality in the workforce? Fine. You want equal opportunity for college education? Fine. But if you want to blame me because daddy would rather be at the club than at home reading jr a book, you can kiss my white ass.

As far as the Jesses and Sharptons go, once people stop feeling sorry for themselves and realize the strength to overcome obstacles does not lie with men who charge fees for protests, but from resilience within one’s self. When that realization is a reality then Jesse and Al will be out of a job as “figureheads/leaders” so to speak. Its an unspoken job requirement for them to have people believe that they need you. I ramble therefore I digress.

re: #3

Obviously you don’t speak for most of White America. Y’know, like those people in West Virginia who said on camera that they wouldn’t vote for a black man? Those white women who claim they’re voting for McCain because Obama beating Hillary was some kind of slight against them? The people who will say they don’t like the “attitude” of Michelle Obama and use that as some kind of retarded reason to not vote for Obama? Yea, those kind of assholes. They, and you, can claim whatever it is you wish, but actions speak louder than words.

You’re about about Jackson, though. He is a symptom, but not of what you think. Why is it, do you think, that people will pay for his and Sharpton’s support? Simply: white people don’t give a shit about black people who don’t have that support. I’d have bet a stack of money that the Sean Bell shooting and following trial wouldn’t even have made the noise it did in the press if Sharpton hadn’t wrapped his serpent body around it and brought it to the attention of white America.

Also? I’m so sick and tired of ignorant people berating black men about a problem that isn’t even endemic to black people. Y’know what this issue really is? Hype bullshit. Do you know when murders were the most highly reported during the past 20 years? During the 90s, when the murder rate in every large city in the country was shrinking. Ask yourself why that is (or better yet, read a goddamn book about it) and you’ll know why believing everything you hear isn’t very intelligent.

Not everyone gets smart in their old age. Some just get old and sloooooooow.

[...] we saw your marches, we don’t want to hear that any more.’ Music artist Nas directs pointed criticism toward civil rights stalwart Jesse Jackson and his generation. But he’s not alone. Kevin [...]

[...] your voice, we saw your marches, we don’t want to hear that any more.’ Music artist Nas directs pointed criticism toward civil rights stalwart Jesse Jackson and his generation. But he’s not alone. Kevin Powell is [...]

Re: ‘3. White America’:
You can try to qualify your ignorant statements by first claiming to be an Obama supporter, but it doesn’t change the fact that you display a fundamental misunderstanding of the socioeconomic realities of this country. Caucasians have their fair share of poor people immersed in so-called “trash” culture just like every other race, yeah? I could just blurt out a crude generalization like, you know, “all white men don’t take care of their kids because they’re too busy blowing up meth labs,” but that is no more true than “all black men don’t take care of their kids because they’re too busy smoking crack at the clubs.” It’s economics. Period. Sometimes those environmental influences are hard to overcome even if a formerly impoverished person can rise above and get out, but that is true for everyone.

There’s been a generational shift in consciousness, Nas is right. The younger generation in this country are going out and taking what they want, not waiting for the Jesse Jacksons of the world to convince “someone” to give it to them. They are making their own reality. They are becoming truly colorblind, and if anyone wants to relentlessly hold up the old racist touchstones of the past, they will hear none of it, nor should they. Young people of color will benefit from the positive results of the old civil rights struggles, but they don’t owe anybody anything for it, and they should not let older peoples’ perceptions of the world hold them back at all, ever. Learning history is one thing, reliving it for eternity is another. Jesse’s generation is holding on to some ideas that are almost entirely irrelevant to an 18-year-old in 2008, ideas that become less relevant with each passing year. They need to get with it or get the hell out of the way. That’s Progress. Each generation decides what Progress is for them, everyone else can eat their dust. Let the young people decide how to live without the influence of old fucked up ideas about race and hate. STFU, old people, just STFU.