music / Hip-Hop

Vic Mensa On Alton Sterling Shooting: “Our Nation’s Past Bleeds Into Our Present”

“Does this face scare you?”

By Jordan Darville
July 07, 2016

Does this face scare you? Would you cross the street if he asked if you wanted to buy a DVD? Would you even answer the question? We need to reprogram. Our nations past bleeds into our present by raising us to think black is something to fear. The police officer that killed him was so scared of the idea of a black man with a gun that it didn't matter if he was reaching for it or threatening at all. That fear took a father, a son, and a brother off of the earth all at the same time. If you're reading this and wondering if he deserved to die I want you to look yourself in the eye. Tell yourself that he was a human being with a family. A family that will never be the same. Tell yourself that you don't need to fear a man just because of the color of his skin. Tell yourself that his blood bleeds red just like yours. Tell yourself he feels fear just like you do. Tell yourself that he feels love just like you do. Tell yourself that you love him. Then go and tell your friends the same. We have to REPROGRAM. "Once you change your philosophy, you change your thought pattern. Once you change your thought pattern, you change your attitude. Once you change your attitude, it changes your behavior pattern and then you go on into some action." - MALCOLM X We have to change. And it starts with each of us.

A photo posted by @vicmensa on

Vic Mensa has posted a response on Instagram to the police shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisana that killed 37-year-old Alton Sterling. "Does this face scare you? Would you cross the street if he asked if you wanted to buy a DVD?" Mensa wrote, referring to Sterling's occupation selling DVDs, movies, and games outside of a convenience store. "We need to reprogram. Our nation's past bleeds into our present by raising us to think black is something to fear. The police officer that killed him was so scared of the idea of a black man with a gun that it didn't matter if he was reaching for it or threatening at all."

Yesterday, Drake posted an open letter on the shooting of Sterling. "No one begins their life as a hashtag. But the trend of being reduced to one continues," he said.

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Watch Vic Mensa's video for "Theres Alot Going On" below.

Hip-Hop, Politics, VIC MENSA

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Vic Mensa On Alton Sterling Shooting: “Our Nation’s Past Bleeds Into Our Present”