In the aftermath of Oprah's furthering of her God Complex Town Hall Meeting, whereupon she attacked hip-hop and blamed it for pretty much everything wrong with today's society, poet/emcee Saul Williams has written her an open letter.
Take your Ritalin, because the full letter is quite long. But it's worth a read, if for no other reason than it is important that this discussion continues.
"You see, Ms. Winfrey, at its worst, Hip-Hop is simply a reflection of the society that birthed it," Williams says. "Our love affair with gangsterism and the denigration of women is not rooted in Hip-Hop; rather it is rooted in the very core of our personal faith and religions. The gangsters that rule Hip-Hop are the same gangsters that rule our nation."
"We cannot address the root of what plagues Hip-Hop without addressing the root of what plagues today's society and the world ... There is nothing more negligent than attempting to address a problem one finds on a branch by censoring the leaves."
Read the full letter here.