Passing a Bill for a Hip Hop Celebration Day is Not What We Need

When you wake up to the news of another celebrity dying because of COVID-related complications or seeing another unarmed Black man being killed because of excessive force due to the police, this tweet from the Senate is not what you'd hope to read. I was not at all happy about seeing that the Senate had passed a bill to make a Hip Hop Celebration Day which will be tomorrow, August 11. The entire month of August will be Hip Hop Recognition Month and November 2021 will now be Hip Hop History Month. Here is the official Twitter announcement made about the holiday below from @SenatePPG

Obviously, the responses about the holiday were less than favorable from many in the Twitterverse.

Now for my take. I have the utmost respect for the Hip Hop legends and I feel like they should be recognized for their contributions to the music that we love. However, there are so many other things that could be done to show appreciation for them. Many of the legends who are no longer making new music are barely living. Things that we take for granted they may not have access to. This includes dental, health care, or plans to keep them living longer. There are too many of them who have died due to poor health and even poor living conditions. I would surely co-sign something like this. But it is hard to believe that all of the educated and intelligent people that we have in the senate decided to choose this as something they believe that we need.

What about an anti-lynching bill or punishment for the bad cops who have taken away fathers, kids, sons, and daughters from their families. What started off as a traffic stop turned into a murder scene. I am sure that you couldn't go to the mother of Tamir Rice or the family of Alton Sterling and say that they should be happy because now we have an official holiday for Hip Hop. This is why I push the importance of voting. The people in the Senate, Congress, and even on the local level of politics are supposed to work for us. They are supposed to help remedy problems in our community and help us feel more comfortable and secure with our daily lives.

This did not make me happy at all when I saw this when I know that we need more. We deserve more and should expect more. Being given a holiday that we didn't ask for is like being given a distraction to hide something else. Our government has to do better and we need to demand it.