The residual effects of the Trayvon Martin murder trial verdict have yet to fully materialize, but the early stages have inspired peaceful protests, petitions, and songs from various artists. You can officially add prolific wordsmith, Talib Kweli, to that bunch after last night’s performance The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
There the Brooklyn MC performed his Prisoner Of Conscious track “Before He Walked” alongside Nelly and Abby Dobson. The emotional performance of the heartfelt record included a host of disturbing images displaying America’s mistreatment of Blacks throughout history.
This includes footage from the television adaptation of Alex Haley’s Roots, characters in blackface, and more.
Kweli concluded with the powerful lines, “These songs are a natural resources of actual street stories/Attract the police forces/Slaves to the rhythm the masters they eat off us,” just before he exclaimed “For Trayvon Martin y’all” and threw his fist in the air.
Prisoner Of Conscious is available on iTunes now. Check out the footage of Kweli and co.’s performance below.
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Photo: YouTube
