Last 30 years we’ve elevated rappers to an exalted place. Some became community leaders without having to do the work that title demands. Simultaneously, their status made them less like us. Now we’re paying for this.

There’s a brain drain that’s happened during this time, one where branding, popularity and wealth have outpaced an understanding of political and social reality.

The people who’ve dedicated their lives to fighting for us have been forced to take a backseat in relevance and importance to those who made us dance and told us which pants and liquor to buy.

We made them rich. Now they’re telling us to fuck off. We can’t do this for another generation. Please support, enrich, and protect the activists, thinkers, and organizers that work for you EVERYDAY. The ones that put your freedom over their safety everyday.

If we as a community of freedom and equality loving people don’t follow the lead of these people, we’ll lose.