Talib Kweli Reflects on Don Lemon, CNN And Ferguson

Saturday, he was a bit regretful in a lengthy post on Medium.

"When I left for Ferguson, MO my intention was to only deal with the people in the community," he wrote. "My intention was not to participate in spectacle. But we all know what the road to hell is paved with."

While on TV, Kweli was supposed to speak about his firsthand account while visiting the city, but Lemon — CNN's program host — interrupted, which set the Chicago rapper off.

"Mr. Lemon didn't know who I was, so he didn't feel like he owed my perspective any respect," Kweli wrote. "As far as he knew he was Don Lemon from CNN allowing some rapper to be on TV, and I should just be grateful for the opportunity. This is why I felt was important for me to point out in that moment that he didn't know me, as well as his initial rudeness before the interview. His ignorance of who I was allowed him to make the mistake of thinking my perspective wasn't as valuable or accurate as the police's.

"Without ever addressing any of the points I raised about the inaccuracies in the article, Mr. Lemon decided instead to address the fact that I said he didn't greet me or know how to pronounce my name. I should've never given him that platform, because it allowed him to ignore the many facts I raised while he was trying to cut me off."

After moving past the CNN incident, Kweli got down to some serious politics.

"From where I'm sitting, the preservation of white supremacy is our truest enemy," he wrote. "Identifying white supremacy as the root of these ills is not suggesting that every white person is racist, that would be silly to me. White supremacy, by definition, is the belief that white people are superior to those of all other races, especially the black race, and should therefore dominate society. The fact is, the slave owning founding fathers of this country were white supremacists, as was the vast majority of the population back then. These founding fathers put systems in place to ensure their children and their children's children would reap the benefits of their racism for generations to come. These systems work."

Long known as a highly intellectual hip-hop mind, Kweli and his politics might be controversial to some, but his point of view is typically fascinating. Read his full written statement here.

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Talib Kweli