Rev. Jesse Jackson shared his perspective on the entrepreneurial power of hip hop and its place in the ongoing struggle for civil rights. Speaking to AllHipHop, Rev. Jackson praised the ongoing endeavors of businessmen like Russell Simmons, Diddy and Jay-Z and acknowledged that the industry has created a paradigm shift in the way that young people view themselves and their potential.
“It’s another phase of our civil rights struggle to become a ‘more perfect Union,’”Rev. Jackson told AllHipHop, “To become a stronger, protected people. We’re now free, but we’re not equal. There is a difference….you can be out of slavery, out of Jim Crow, and still starve to death.”
“We can keep on reproducing P Diddys, and Russells, and Jay-Zs,” Rev. Jackson added, “Because there’s a big world out there.”
