
Mysonne, a rapper/activist who works tirelessly advocating for the #BlackLivesMatter movement, has shared with REVOLT his thoughts regarding Kanye West’s recent outpouring of support for Donald Trump and where that leaves the undeniably influential rapper’s fanbase and the Black community at large.
Written by Mysonne
After careful thought and critical analysis, I’ve come to the conclusion that Kanye West is a very dangerous Black man. Being a Kanye fan and understanding how influential he is, I understand that his words influence others. His words not only influence his fans but at this point they give validity to those who openly hate Blacks!
We have become accustomed to the rants and antics of Kanye and although we don’t always agree, most of us believe they’ve come from a good place. I’ve always been able to rationalize even his most outlandish stunts and statements. But at this point, I can no longer do that. His new rants and endorsements [of Trump] have left me perplexed.
The man who has always spoke against racism and inequality now endorses those who have shown commitment to those very things! I want to believe there is a plan. I want to believe that Kanye is strategically gaining our attention in this way for some complex grand scheme to flip his message to empower the most marginalized communities he has profited off his entire career. I mean, we’ve paid thousands for his sneakers and some of us have even bought his grossly overpriced clothes under the pretext that he was truly for the people!
However, at this point, his message and endorsement has already empowered our oppressor. The photo of Kanye where he is wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat—the same hat the Tiki torch-holding white supremacists wore as they beat Blacks in Charlottesville—has been used to fund our oppressor, and to give those that are stripping us of our human rights the belief that Blacks are okay with being considered less than. To believe that the hip-hop culture condones calling Mexicans rapists and other nations inhabited by people of color “shithole countries.” He gives the world the notion that we believe violating women is fine, that prejudice against Muslims is something we are in agreement of, and so on, when in fact, that is not true.
I truly pray that if there is something wrong with Kanye he gets the help he needs. But if this is his new philosophy, I can no longer support anything that supports my oppression and either way, I pray we stop allowing him platforms to campaign for Trump. There is way too much at stake.