Following the heinous terrorist attack in Paris on Friday night (Nov. 13) that left 129 victims dead, a flock of celebrities have offered their prayers to the French city, including Frank Ocean, who shared his thoughts as the news arose. Up next is Yasiin Bey, who spoke with Ferrari Sheppard on A Country Called Earth regarding the linking of Islamic terrorist group ISIS to the the tragic ordeal. And he did not mince words.
“A big giant ‘f**k off’ to ISIS,” he said. “You don’t represent nothing about Islam or nothing about the prophet. “
During the 20-minute conversation, Yasiin Bey connected the ills from every corner of the world to one another, including the death Tamir Rice, the racist threats at the University of Missouri, and injustices in South Africa. Calling for a mobilization on social media, Yasiin also urged the masses to think deeper about the idea of humanity and the faulty practices of governments. He also expressed a worry for the future of children.
“This is the time to be talking about the dignity and nobility of being a human being. Not a machine, not a puppet of the state, or of your own desires, but for the sanctity and nobility of being a human being. Because this is what’s really at stake. They’re trying to turn us into machines, or just high-functioning mammals, animals, beasts, in a jungle that they create. The states, the politicians, the so-called doers of good, who claim to have the interest of the planet at heart, and it’s a lie.”
Yasiin Bey also encouraged those who are currently mourning over the Paris attacks to also mourn for the deaths happening stateside, including that of Tamir Rice and other unarmed victims of police brutality.
“The state kills children and say that they’re justified in murdering children. They kill unarmed people and say that they’re justified in doing it. I need everybody who’s sad about Paris to be just as sad and angry about Tamir Rice and all of these young, innocent people dying over nothing.”
Yasiin concluded that “love must and will prevail,” and also dropped a new track in line entitled “Colonial Fiction,” which features a photo of Rice on its cover. Listen to him drop knowledge and his new song below: