(ThyBlackMan.com) AllHipHop CEO Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur recently interviewed Rev. Jesse Jackson who offered a glowing report on the status of rap. Among other excerpts, Rev. Jackson basically seemed to endorse Hip Hop’s economically savvy moguls:
“Rev. Jackson had positive thoughts to share about rappers who have risen to mogul status over the past decade, and what their influence might mean for creating prosperity and freedom within the Hip-Hop culture. “We can 
keep on reproducing P Diddys, and Russells, and Jay-Zs,” Rev. Jackson told AllHipHop.com, “because there’s a big world out there.”…
Rev. Jackson noted that rappers can buy, invest, and grow nowadays in Hip-Hop, ultimately strengthening the economy within minority communities. “I’m delighted to see us now in this stage – what happens is that if you own, you can hire,” he added. “Getting access is the next phase of the struggle.”
So this makes three times that Jesse Jackson (two within the last month) has been referenced on this site… and neither of the occasions pertained to any Kingdom work that he’s doing as a reverend!
C’mon Jesse! Is anyone else stunned by this?!! It is possible that other aspects of the interview weren’t highlighted? – particularly any part where he held these rap artists accountable for the message they’ve allowed to permeate the culture… no, an entire generation. It would also skew the interview for my own selfish purposes if I didn’t clarify that he was attending a conference which had an “own your Black business”/entrepreneurial focus. Yet and still, this entry serves as my immediate reaction from a position of ambassadorship for the Kingdom of God (which all Christians walk in, by the way).
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The Stun of JesseI’m too stunned and
Stung by Jesse’s latest stunt
To even shun him.
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I realize that we as a people have made tremendous strides in civil rights. I understand how Jesse personally witnessed Black people’s roles grow from sharecroppers to shareholders in major corporations. I get that the statuses of
these moguls promote socioeconomic growth that allows them to give back to the community… but Jesse is a REVEREND.
I’m not saying he should be out there chastising artists day in and day out; but when you have a titled man of God praising how individuals have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps despite the fact that they did so while promoting agendas that work against the Kingdom?… that’s ridiculous. I’m all for economic prosperity. I’m all in for advancement. But knowing the wealth of God and the state of spiritual poverty that the world is in has kind of warped my sensibilities into focusing on how to advance the Kingdom at ALL times. Period.
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Boot the Straps, Hold the ApplauseRap’s traded bootstraps
Once strapped for cash with straps and
Booty claps… congrats?!!
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Forever in the shadow of Dr. King, I’d like to ask Rev. Jackson a few questions:
– If Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were alive, would he be as quick to praise these moguls as Jesse did?
– Is Jesse also a fan of 50 Cent? After all, he purportedly single-handedly raised stock in a small company by over 200% in one day simply by tweeting that it would be a good investment. Are his questionable lyrics just as pardonable as the white collar crimes committed in the “Get Rich or Lie Tryin’ “ schemes from the pursuit of the American Dream?
– Speaking of which: “Has the American Dream for C.R.E.A.M. been masked over top of Dr. King’s?”
The reality is that I’ve come to appreciate and understand what a good friend of mine meant when he spoke of the “inherent duplicity” of man. It is actually what inspired the subtitle and poetic foreword of Steel Waters: DUPLicate AuthentICITY.
Having certain spiritual beliefs while entertaining personal ideologies and aspirations driven by the world we live in makes it very difficult to be made of spirit and flesh. The latter compromises the standard that God set for us to live by with its own built-in rationalizations. That’s what my book attempts to poetically illustrate as I explore topics utilizing elements of my scriptural and lyrical influences as I tap into spiritual and secular sources for inspiration.
The very fact that I’ve written for AllHipHop over the years is a representation of the line I continue to walk between the two. In posting my AllHipHop throwbacks from years of writing for the site, I intentionally wanted to give respect/credit due to the site’s CEO who helped me develop and showcase this gift that God has given me. While I don’t feel as though I ever compromised myself in doing so regarding my call to raise the standard in the central themes of Hip Hop artists; I can admit that I used slightly more colorful language than I do now.
Every poetitorial I wrote challenged Hip Hop culture on its worsening condition – its cursory messages of degenerative, self-destructive behavior which serve as a promotion rather than a warning of the conditions of the inner city; a far cry from where this music started. I’ve already proven that I sometimes appease my more human/worldly side in my writing. In proving that, I guess someone such as Rev. Jesse Jackson can do so, too. I suppose he’s entitled to take off his ordained collar in favor of donning a collar of socioeconomic equality if he so chooses. After all, he’s a man of flesh and spirit just like me – a man of inherent duplicity.
To view the interview for yourself, click the link below:
AllHipHop Interviews Rev. Jesse Jackson (——
Staff Writer; Reggie Legend
Can find more about this writer over at; http://www.steelwaterspoetry.com
Also available as a Keynote Speaker – Book him Today; Speakerwiki – Reggie Legend
