The other thing I learned in the conscious community was the value of critical thinking. The idea was that you live in a world where the Tuskegee experiments actually happened, where the FBI did plot to destroy the Panthers, where J. Edgar Hoover terrorized black leaders from Garvey to Huey Newton. In that vein, you should be skeptical of what you see and hear. This is the perspective of Mos is coming from. (Note the Assata reference.) But here’s the thing—if you really get that message, it ultimately leads you to be critical, not just of the larger white narrative, but of the narrative put forth by those around you.
— Ta-Nehisi Coates on the Mos Def - Christopher Hitchens discussion (see below) and some of the limitations of ‘ghetto philosophy’. I hope people take his advice as a challenge instead of a threat. (via conservativeradical)
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