We judge people based on their clothes, social class, and, dare I say, ethnicity. Our comedians make light of these stereotypes regularly, and we laugh at their accuracy.
For me, 2016-17 was hell, and there's no way around it for me. I went through pain, depression, fear, doubt, and all of that was a journey that I was able to write through, and then I wrote when I was coming out of that dark place as well.
Your identity is not wrapped up in how right you get it or how perfect you can posture yourself. But, your identity is wrapped up in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You can't celebrate gifts without celebrating the giver of all gifts, so I want to celebrate Jesus.
Nobody would deny that if someone was a billionaire in 1962, his billions are going to affect all of his descendants. The reverse is also true. The lack of education, material, and finances for a slave are going to affect the descendants of that individual as well.
I don't like putting on airs; that's not my thing. I'd rather just be myself, just connecting to people genuinely.
If you suffocate my blackness, you've got to realize that's supremacy.
America has this fascination with glorifying the villain and not talking about the trials and tribulations. We tell the story of the successful villain a lot of times, but we don't tell the story of the people who don't come out so successful, and we don't tell the story of all the bystanders of that choice.
As we wrestle with questions of identity, we imitate those actions we think best fill an ambiguity we have within ourselves. And that goes for everyone; no one is free from this condition.
For a lot of people, groups, Christians included, issues are homogenized. And so to be a Christian, I'm either this staunch, conservative Republican, or I'm this tree-hugging liberal. You're stereotyped. It's almost assumed that people know what your issues are going to be.
The pain and the suffering that I went through made me an activist. It made me stronger; it made me more compassionate.
I always liked the content of a Common but the commercial viability of a Lil Jon. And I would say, 'Why don't those worlds ever come together?' So for me, it was like, 'Let's do that.'
My mother, my relatives, and closest friends have risked their lives in the area of law enforcement and corrections, so I never have and never will say, 'I hate police.'
Life is a precious gift - a gift we often take for granted until it is threatened.
Many people don't know that all Grammy awards are not created equal. An unspoken hierarchy exists in many circles, and some categories are more respected than others.
My stepdad didn't have a father growing up, so he didn't know how to have a father-son style conversation. Plus, we had a tense relationship in which he never really offered me advice.