common letter to free

Common - Letter to the Free

1) Common has been involved in the move Selma which is about an "Alabama city which became the battleground in the fight for suffrage. Despite violent opposition, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers pressed forward on an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, and their efforts culminated in President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965."

2) "The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. In Congress, it was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and by the House on January 31, 1865."

3) "The Black Codes were laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866 in the United States after the American Civil War with the intent and the effect of restricting African Americans' freedom, and of compelling them to work in a labour economy based on low wages or debt."

4) As the impact of slavery still resides in America to an extent. Areas in the south have racial views and slavery mainly happened in the suburbs of the south. Black African-Americans mostly reside of the east-coast of America where the Underground slavery line was found and dug. Things like the KKK group attacked and lynched prominent members in the black community as a way of degrading black people.

5) Ava DuVernay stated that one of the reasons why she made the movie and presented it to Hollywood was because "People in the real world are doing work and have been. My job is just to reflect it."

6) The most significant tie for hip-hop was the late 80's to the 90's which was due to prominent figures arising in the hip-hop scene such as NWA, Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, Tupac, Biggie Smalls etc. This is also due to the crack epidemics which started from 1984 to 1990. The crack epidemic severely effected the black communities leading to members and people using hip-hop as away of talking about their problems.

7) There are rappers such as Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West and Jay Z who talk about politics and the current affairs in America.

8) The song Letter to the Free is featured on the album Black America Again. The critical reception for Black America Again was stated to be "received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 88, based on 13 reviews.[8] Andy Kellman of AllMusic said, "All that's here, dark or bright, is vital."[9] Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune said, "One of the year's most potent protest albums."