Ice Cube has inducted himself as the new voice of the Black community when it comes to political affairs but went about it the wrong way.
The West Coast rapper has been advocating for Black rights ever since his N.W.A. days and has asserted his stance within the political field very clear with the group’s notable song, “F*** Tha Police” which was released in 1988.
Since the song’s release, Black Americans have been continued victims of police brutality and making strides to defund the same institutions that have caused so much pain in the community.
As of late, Ice Cube has been trying to educate himself further in the political realm.
“Over the last few months, I’ve been really going deep into this political space. [I’ve been] reading a lot of history, trying to understand how systems work, not getting caught up in anybody’s redirect, but looking for my d*** self and just trying to figure out why we continue to flounder at the bottom,” Ice Cube said in an 8- minute long Instagram video he posted on Oct. 11.
In June, Ice Cube released “Contract with Black America” (CWBA), which is a 22-page document that calls to action the urgency to reform educational systems, defund the police and abolish private prisons.
From his publication of the document, Ice Cube says that he was sought out by Democrats and Republicans alike to talk about it, but what differed between the two parties was the time constraint.
“I put out the CWBA. Both parties contacted me. Dems said we’ll address the CWBA after the election. Trump campaign made some adjustments to their plan after talking to us about the CWBA,” Ice Cube tweeted out on Oct 14.
Ice Cube should be commended for his efforts to educate himself in the political arena. His heart is in the right place when advocating for real problems that plague the Black community, but he isn’t the one that should be speaking for us.
His platform should be used to amplify the smaller activists that don’t have a voice and have been struggling to get their point across to the masses about the same issues that Ice Cube pointed out in the CWBA.
The Platinum Plan the president has crafted with his help is easily deemed disingenuous and unreliable. It’s a ploy for the president to garner Black votes.
Ice Cube wants the community’s pleas to be heard, but his willful ignorance to who he has agreed to work with is uncanny.
We can only hope celebrities will use their influence for positive change. While Ice Cube has proved his willingness to learn and adapt, his idea of his new influence in politics is overzealous and should be reevaluated.
Political change starts at the local level.
Ice Cube should be using his stardom and newfound political drive to push for legislation in our communities and harping on the notion of everyone being registered to vote.
“Voter turnout for local elections, typically held in off-cycle years, has historically lagged behind state and federal races set to take place in November, but recent results suggest it’s slowly becoming even worse.” according to governing.com.
On the contrary, at the national level voter turnout has increased for the Presidential election this year.
“More than 26 million people had voted as of Saturday, according to the U.S. Elections Project, a turnout-tracking database run by University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald. That’s more than six times the number of votes cast by the same point in 2016.” according to NPR.
With the Black community looking at him with skepticism and betrayal, Ice Cube needs to understand that if he wants to really help the community, he must start small.