In a moving speech my by Atlanta’s very own Killer Mike, the rapper passionately shared with the crowd of Bernie Sanders supporters why it was very important for those to support his candidacy for President. Killer Mike told the crowd that this isn’t the time to elect a Margaret Thatcher type President, referring to Hillary Clinton’s bid for President.
According to an average of recent polling from that state, Clinton leads Sanders by nearly 50 points. And a large part of that lead is due to the Vermont senator’s lack of both familiarity and favor-ability with African-American voters. After #BlackLivesMatters protesters interrupted his stump speech over the summer, Sanders felt the unforgiving wrath of Black Twitter, which pressed him to start taking them more seriously. With the endorsement of the popular rapper, will it be enough to turn the tide from the popularity of the former Senator from New York?
Killer Mike’s tone in his speech was a mixture of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King but he pointed out that he is no preacher in countless rap songs he has recorded however his message was loud and clear.
But after referencing King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Killer Mike clarified, “I’m not here to talk about the dream that you think is unattainable so you settle for less. I’m not here to talk about Utopian society where everyone is forgiven and no one has to pay for past debts.”
“What I am talking about today is Martin King post the Washington march,” he continued. “Martin King on the war on poverty. Martin King against the war machine that uses your sons and your nephews to go to other lands and murder.”
With these words, he was casting Sanders as more than an idealistic dreamer. In Killer Mike’s view, it is the candidate’s unyielding conviction that is needed to make real change happen.
One would have to ask the question, why would people of color support Hillary Clinton when she has supported two major prison lobbyists? Clinton’s PAC has already received $134k from lobbying firms linked to GEO and CCA.
We didn’t know a lot about Bernie Sanders until recently but with the endorsement by our favorite rapper, we are going to be paying more attention to his campaign.
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