Rapper Black Thought has unveiled a new music video, titled “Rest in Power,” that goes hand in hand with an upcoming BET and Paramount documentary of the same name. Both intend to shed light on the tragedy of Trayvon Martin, the kicker being that the productions are sympathetic to him as an innocent victim, and provide a lionizing image of the Black Lives Matter movement.
If the lyrics to Black Thought’s new song are any indication, “Rest in Power” is nothing short of an indictment of police and white supremacy. The two minute long music video uses rap lyrics to bash George Zimmerman as an “unthreatened” killer, Trayvon Martin as an innocent victim, the police as waging warfare on a downtrodden minority group, and white politicians as members of the Ku Klux Klan.
If only saying it would make it so.
The song starts off in the intro chorus by wishing Trayvon well in the afterlife, as well as claiming his spirit is the galvanizing force by which the African American community will come together to end current racial injustices. It states, “Rest in Power, rest in paradise. If I could change matters, I would spare a life. ‘Cause lives matter, there’s clearly nothing as dear as life. You have become a symbol in the spirit life.”
It’s tragic when a young life is extinguished. However, when the BLM talking points start rolling off in the first verse, Black Thought’s “woke” production begins to take shape as an outrage-inducing propaganda tool.
Black Thought raps, “In America, one tradition that lasts, is black blood woven into the fibers of the flag. Not addressing the problems of the past, to nowhere fast, but following the path. So-called ‘leaders’ on hire for the Klan, still raping and setting fire to the land.”
He continues, focusing his attention on the killing of young Trayvon. He claims, “One killer, one child, one weapon, the shooter was unthreatened, seventy-one seconds.”
Did anyone who contributed to the documentary review the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial that declared Martin as a violent aggressor? Well, you know, to BLM enthusiasts like Black Thought, such U.S. trials are just instruments of oppression wielded by a state beholden to deep-seated institutional racism.
And its law arbiters are secretly fulfilling the will of the Klan, right?
Still, Black Thought just keeps pumping his production with scandalous and disingenuous imagery. One of the most flagrant instances is comparing Trayvon Martin’s death with that of Emmett Till.
He states, “To them it’s real, sins of the father remembered still. For every Trayvon Martin, there was an Emmett Till.” Emmett Till? The black teen who was abducted, beaten, mutilated and finally murdered in the 1950s on account of brutal racism?
Unfortunately, these beliefs are reinforced by credulous or just plain malicious news media. (Hands Up, Don’t Shoot was based on a lie, but repeated ad nauseum in the Ferguson, Missouri coverage. In the case of Martin and Zimmerman, nobody should forget that NBC ran a recording of Zimmerman’s doctored 911 call.) Now we have the smoothly-polished BS that is “Rest in Power.” Thank you, Black Thought, and thank you, your highness, Jay-Z. Your attempts to race-bait millions of Americans are going according to plan.
The documentary “Rest in Power” will premiere on BET on July 30th at 10 PM on the Paramount network.
