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Advice For Macklemore: Pass The Mic

Gyasi Ross, activist and attorney, responded to Macklemore's White Privilege II with his own song.
Courtesy of Gyasi Ross
Gyasi Ross, activist and attorney, responded to Macklemore's White Privilege II with his own song.

Seattle rapper Macklemore is the latest in a long line of white liberals who chose to play the white savior role and speak for brown-skinned people instead of providing the platform for them to speak for themselves.

He’s neither the first nor the greatest – only the latest. We must resist that tendency and push white people who wish to be allies to – instead of attempting to speak for us – pass the mic and leverage their platforms to let us speak for ourselves.

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If he truly wishes to be an ally, he should put marginalized voices to the forefront instead of simply consulting with them and keeping the glory for his white-guilt epiphany to himself.

The next step in the evolution of the ally is to make the introduction, get off the stage and the let the stakeholders speak for themselves – for the stakeholder to become the subject and not the object.

Pass the mic.

Gyasi Ross (@bigindiangyasi) is a member of the Blackfeet Nation and the Suquamish Nation. He is also a lawyer and a filmmaker. He'll be on Week in Review (94.9 FM) at noon, Friday, Feb. 5. 

https://youtu.be/Y_rl4ZGdy34