Thursday, July 24, 2008

Nas and Colorofchange take on Fox News

Awesome.
About four hours after the announcement that his controversial, politically charged ninth album was number one in the country, Nas was on a small podium in front of Fox News headquarters in New York City protesting what he sees as racist attacks against Black Americans and presidential candidate Barack Obama. In a brief prepared statement, the multi-platinum rapper pointed out examples of what he and ColorOfChange see as a long racist smear campaign against the Obama family: The onscreen graphic that referred to Michelle Obama as the Senator’s “baby mama”; Bill O’Reilly casually using the phrase “lynching party” to refer to attacks on the Senator’s wife; referencing to the couple’s infamous fist thump as a “terrorist fist jab.” Said Nas, “Fox poisons this country every time they air racist propaganda and try to call it news. This should outrage every American that Fox uses hateful language to talk about the person that may be the first black president.”

The rapper stood next to 19 neatly stacked cardboard boxes, with the number 620,127 taped to the side of each one — over 600,000 signatures gathered by ColorOfChange demanding that network president Roger Ailes “find a solution to address racial stereotyping and hate-mongering before it hits the airwaves.” Fox rejected the petitions, but Brave New Films says that Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report will accept them instead.
Update with Video of the event:

Fox News wouldn't except their petitions. Luckily, Stephen Colbert would: Video Here, embed is screwing up.

I just got Nas' new album, and I'm really liking what I've heard so far. Nas has always been one of my favorite MCs, but to see him use his celebrity to bring light to an important issue and advance the cause of a great progressive organization is too fucking cool.

4 comments:

  1. if anyone hasn't heard it yet, Nas has an entire song devoted to the subject of Fox News called "Sly Fox." you can listen to it here: http://www.imeem.com/nas/music/DXygkEzs/nas_sly_fox/

    at this point, i think its the best song on the album. incredible to see him leading the charges at their offices too. this is a somewhat new level of activism for Nas, especially in terms of his participation. keep up the good work!

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  2. hahahhaha, hilarious colbert bit.

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  3. Glad you put this up here, the new album has really struck a chord with me. Nas has always had the raw storytelling ability and lyrical talent, I'm glad he's putting it together to address deeper issues. It sure beats all that pop shit the kids at camp listen to.

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  4. i was skeptical at first, what with the controversial proposed title and Nas' last couple of albums sucking. but it worked really well as a concept album, the satire was equally as cutting as it was accurate and he succeeds in getting his message across

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