Outspoken rappers Clifford “T.I.” Harris, 39, and Michael “Killer Mike” Render, 45, joined the mayor of Atlanta for a press conference addressing the destruction of the city amid protests against police.
T.I. was the first rapper to speak about the civil unrest that has people ruining property and looting businesses.
“Atlanta is the place where people like me, Killer Mike, other artists, creatives, other people who come from our culture, and other people who rise up out of the wreckage of the struggle that we all experience just by being born a certain color in this country,” T.I. said at the press conference. “Atlanta is a place where we can set an example of prosperity and we’ve done that for generations.”
T.I. has been vocal about the protests and has used his platform to advocate for the rights of black people in recent years.
“When everything else goes away,” he continued. “When you don’t get treated right — Atlanta has been here for us. This city don’t deserve this. However, I understand that a lot of others do. But, we can’t do this here. This is Wakanda, it’s sacred and must be protected.”
Killer Mike had a more emotional response to the protests. In what some fans saw as a surprising revelation, Killer Mike said his father and two of his cousins are policemen. The rapper who once ran for a position as a Georgia representative has always been a rapper of substance, although he tends to lean toward conservative views.
He urged people to not burn down Atlanta, a city that has been welcoming to black people.
“We want to see four officers prosecuted and sentenced,” Killer Mike said. “We don’t want to see Targets burning, we want to see the system that sets up for systemic racism burnt to the ground.”
Killer Mike also expressed that Atlanta is a place where black people can have businesses and criminal officers are prosecuted.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was riddled with emotion, as well. Bottoms said that the demonstrations are not true protests because it doesn’t have a goal or mission. She continued to reprimand looters stealing alcohol and burning down businesses owned by black people.
“You are disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country,” Mayor Bottoms said. “We are better than this!”
The unsaid hijacking of the protests by agitators, undercover racists and conservatives, and real life criminals has misconstrued the message. As predicted, the energy of celebrities, politicians and public figures are now being redirected to reprimanding protestors instead of reprimanding the police.
The reason why the protests during the Civil Rights movement was successful was because the people of that time had a leader, a goal and a mutual understanding. There wasn’t anarchy, with some people choosing to do things for their personal agendas.
People who were not black that joined the protests of the 1960s followed the lead of black people, not their own perspectives of what they thought black people would want.
At the end of the day, it appears that protests are only effective to a certain extent. Eventually, in order to impress real change, black people will have to get in positions of authority, whether it be the courtrooms, within police or in the government. Black people will have to become the policemen, county attorneys, judges politicians and business owners in order to reform policy, law and culture.
Watch the press conference below:
