Nick Cannon Delivers Spoken Word Poem Addressing 2016 Oscars Controversy
#SpokenSunday #Oscar #poetry #DontBeDistracted OscarDamn! Look what they did to Oscar.Nah, not another trophy rant.I'm talking Oscar Grant, Sandra Bland, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray.Why we trust what the news say anyway?It's blasphemous, don't get distracted by these lottery tickets and statues. It's just fake gold and plastic.We come from Pharaohs with no masters.What happened? We went from golden tombs to closed caskets.The Black Plague, they want us to catch it.Just ask Magic, Malcolm, Martin, Muhammad Ali, Bill Cosby. It's tragic. How the enemy can tear down our community and rewrite the history by highlighting our flaws.But let he who cast the first stone, who constitutes the new laws.Nah, I ain't never seen Empire but I serve my own throne.What I look like begging them to let royalty into they home.As for me and my house, we'll serve the Lord!We crying for votes but how many of us is on the board.Better yet, when's the last time you showed up and supported the NAACP Awards?I want what's mine, not yours.Fuck getting my foot in.I'm building my own doors.Hollywood mainstream don't validate me, yo. Like Hov say, Save the accolades, just the doe.You in this show for the business, or this business for the show?Talent and brilliance? Hands down, man we got that shit. That's why I told Chris, man go 'head and rock that shit.You got the Juice now. Fight the Power.Hell yeah, I'm gonna watch that ceremony where they gonna let a black man be the Master for at least two hours. So don't waste your voice, don't waste your prayers.Save'em for the thousands killed in Nigeria, Kenya, The Philippines, Syria or right here in our urban areas.Low America.Nah, now no one cares.What about my mother raising a son while working three jobs and still equating to less than minimum wage?What about me being placed on medication before my system could age?What about that prison industrial system turning Brothers into new slaves?Where's the outrage? Where the complaints at?Overcoming obstacles, definition of Black.Hashtag #facts.But I guess they don't make no awards for that.Real talk.Real Kings don't need no pats on the back.#Dontbedistracted
Posted by Nick Cannon on Sunday, January 24, 2016
When the nominations for the 2016 Academy Awards were announced, the glaring omission of black actors and actresses from all major categories was met with severe backlash, with many threatening to boycott the awards show altogether. Nick Cannon is just the latest black celebrity to speak his mind on the hot-button topic. Instead of a rant, the accomplished comedian and actor opted to convey his feelings by reciting a spoken word poem he wrote in a clip uploaded to his Facebook page.
The poem, simply titled Oscar, was posted with the hashtags #SpokenSunday #Oscar #poetry #DontBeDistracted, along with the entire poem in text.
The clip, which features Cannon sitting in a stairwell dressed in all black, is devoid of the comedic fair usually associated with the Wild-N-Out host and shot in black-and-white. The lack of hilarity is an indication that the matter at hand is not to be taken lightly. Cannon begins the poem by stating, "Damn, look what they did to Oscar / Nah, not another Oscar rant, I'm talking Oscar Grant," a tell-tale sign that despite the title of the poem, this will be more of a call to arms than a plea for recognition.
In fact, Cannon seems to denounce that train of thought with the lines, "Nah, I ain't ever seen Empire, but I serve my own throne / What I look like begging them to let royalty into they home / As for me and my house, we'll serve the lord." He notes our lack of representation, asking, "We crying for votes but how many of us is on the board?"
Going a step further, he takes those protesting to task as well, calling out the lack of support for celebrations geared towards black excellence, asking "Better yet, when's the last time you showed up to support at the NAACP Awards." He also makes known his intentions to be the change he wants to see with the lines, "I want what's mine, not what's yours / Fuck getting my foot in, I'm building my own doors."
Cannon acknowledges that he will be watching the 2016 Oscars in support of Chris Rock, who will be hosting the event. However, he questions why our concern for the Oscars pales in comparison to our attention to issues affecting the black community. Cannon addresses all sides of the issue in his poem, which stands as one of the more candid reactions to the #OscarsSoWhite campaign we've seen thus far.
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