Common performs spoken poetry at the White House
Common came under attack from conservative media outlets this week after he was booked to perform at the White House. Fox News and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin criticized First Lady Michelle Obama’s decision to include him in a poetry reading, citing some of his past lyrics and labeling him “vile.” But despite the controversy, the Chicago rapper’s invitation stood.
“Politics is politics and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I respect that,” wrote Common, who’s been a longtime supporter of President Obama. “The one thing that shouldn’t be questioned is my support for the police officers and troops that protect us every day. Peace yall!”
Dressed in a beige suit, he performed a spoken word piece with a DJ in celebration of American poetry and prose. “Thank you and God bless. I appreciate being here,” a grateful Common told the audience.
“King Barack”
(Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Barack Obama)
King Barack
A poem by Common
I woke up with the sunshine. A sunshine I had never seen.
There was light at the end of it. Reminded me to forever dream.
I was dreaming I walked into the White House. With love on my sleeve.
And love for each and every one of you. Reminding you to believe.
These are the words of a believer achiever.
Leader of the globe, feed the souls of those in need.
I bleed the blood of the struggle. Walking over troubled puddles.
The hustle is in my chest. No hustle no progress.
Extremities of life in this process.
The birth of a son. The death of another.
With love I caress both mothers.
Common
And told ‘em who’s in control is the one that’s above us.
I walk where money talks and love stutters.
The body language of a nation. Going though changes.
The young become dangerous. Spent into anger.
Anger gets sent through the chamber.
It’s tough when your own look like strangers.
We are the sons of gangsters and stone rangers.
If he could how would Ernie Barnes paint us?
Look at the picture. It’s hard not to blame us.
But time forgives in the shy where the young die often.
Do they end up in a coffin because we haven’t taught them?
Is it what we talkin’, we really ain’t walking.
Dudes, hustlers, paid. How much did it cost them?
I find myself on the same corner that we lost them.
Real talkin’ in their ear like a walkman.
My thoughts been around the corner to the world.
So when I see them I see my baby girl.
The Lord lives among us. The youngest hunger, recover.
Means to get it by anyways necessary under pressure.
Children feeling lesser with the spill upon the dresser.
Killer, willer aggressors. Destiny’s children, survivors, soldiers.
In front of buildings their eyes look older.
It’s hard to see blessings in a violent culture.
Face against rappings. Sirens holsters – that ‘aint the way that Langston Hughes wrote us.
So controllers on the shoulders of Moses.
And Noah. We go from being precious to Oprah.
Cultivated to overcome. Ever since we came over.
Seize the day in the way that you can see the determined.
The soul that keeps burning. Shorty’s know to keep learning.
Lessons in my life are like stripes that we earning.
I took Grant’s advice that Christ is returning.
Like a thief in the night. I write for beacons of light.
For those of us in dark alleys and park valleys.
Street hits spark valleys of the conscience.
Conquerors of a contest. Even the unseen know that God watches.
For one King’s dream he was able to Barack us.
One King’s dream he was able to Barack us.
One King’s dream he was able to Barack us.”
