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By Jawn Murray, BlackVoices.com
Rap star Common has always been lauded for his conscious lyrics. Last April, the Chicago-bred artist was the only rapper featured on the 'Oprah' show during a town hall meeting on hip-hop after the fallout from Don Imus calling the Rutgers women's basketball team 'nappy-headed hos.'
Now the rapper is on the front line again, this time defending his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
Unless you've been under a rock, you know by now that Wright, pastor and spiritual advisor to presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama, has come under fire for some of his more "controversial" sermons.
Mainstream media outlets have deemed the messages "anti-American" and have overused words like "inflammatory" and "explosive" all while accusing Wright of being a "racist."
The 36-year old rapper, who has been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since he was eight years old, said he wasn't shocked about the tone of Wright's sermons.
"I am a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ, which is the church of Pastor Reverend Wright who has now become a national figure and I'm very proud of that. As we can see, as Barack has spoken, he said he has learned a lot from Reverend Wright. I can say that I've learned a lot from Pastor Wright. A couple of weeks ago I was in Chicago and it was his retirement ceremony and I wanted to go up and speak, but I didn't. I have rapped in the church which shows how progressive this church is that they let me rap there. I wanted to go up and speak and say how well he had raised me. I grew up with my mom and my step-father, but I felt in many ways that I was raised by his sermons also. His sermons always endorsed God and promoted God and believing in God and spirituality and being proud of who you are as a person and dealing with the Black community," Common told me during our interview at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills last week.
Common believes that Rev. Wright is preaching self-love and not hatred and his sermons were attempting to empower a disenfranchised race of people.
VIDEO: The "controversial" clip of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermon that is receiving backlash
"I think it's something important that we can acknowledge and say we're proud to be who we are. It's not an anti anything. It's about love for your culture also. I think many other cultures do it. Italians love their culture and Mexicans and Jewish people love and respect their culture. I think it should be okay for Black people to say, 'We love our culture. We love everybody else too, but we love our culture too.' That's the message that I got from Pastor Wright," he explained.
The rapper, who stars in the upcoming film 'Street Kings,' said that the attack on his pastor is just below-the-belt politics at his finest.
According to Common, the national uproar over Wright's sermons isn't the first time the Chicago minister has come under fire.
"Even before it got bubbling nationally, it was going on locally," he shared. "[There were] petitions that we signed. There were certain newspapers in Chicago that were really trying to bash the church and it was like a petition that was asked of me to sign and other members of Trinity saying that we weren't in support of that newspaper for that and that we know Reverend Wright is not what they are portraying him to be."
Common said he is proud to be a member of Trinity United Church of Christ and does not intend to back away from Rev. Wright because of the criticism he is receiving. "I think now I'm getting an opportunity to say I'm a supporter of Pastor Wright and he has done some great things for our community and for people. He's a man of God and I love what he's saying. I'm not here to judge anybody 'cause I got my own problems. I say, let he who is without sin throw the first stone. We all got something going on with us and this guy has been an overall great speaker and a very intelligent man who has helped so many people across the world," he offered.
Obama, on the other hand, has had to distance himself from his spiritual advisor.<SPANSTYLE="MSO-SPACERUN: yes?>candidate and member of Trinity United Church of Christ should not be held accountable because of Rev. Wright.
"I think the comments that Reverend Wright said were his comments. They were not Barack Obama's point of view and I think Barack addressed it and I think he addressed it so well that the obstacles they put in front of him were stepping stones and that speech that he gave [last] Tuesday has impacted the world in a greater way than we ever knew. The things that they threw in front of him, he changed it into something good," said Common.
The rapper said despite spending a good portion of his time residing in Los Angeles and New York City , he does try to get back to Trinity United Church of Christ whenever he can.
Common attended the most recent New Year's Eve service at the church and was invited to rap a freestyle recap of the sermon in front of the congregation. As the base of his rap, he used the three principles from Rev. Wright's sermon: healthy evaluation, hopeful anticipation and holy affirmation.
"I see what's going on," he smiled. "It's American politics. They try to twist and turn and find something wrong when things are going right. They have to try and find something negative. I can't say that I've seen all of the clips, but it's nothing surprising because I've been in that particular church since I was 8 years old. I know what Pastor Wright speaks and I think another thing that we're learning as people in this country is that as much as I look to Pastor Wright or Barack Obama as a leader and a great person or my mother as a leader and a great person, I have to make decisions for myself and what fits and what is gonna work well with me so no matter what speaker I listen to, I take what I get from it and say, 'okay, this is what I believe and this is what sits right with me and this is what I would use to apply to my life.' I think that's a lesson that we all can get from this."
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