Lenny Duncan

Psalms of my People by Lenny Duncan is a wonderful, interesting, frustrating book that is (as noted in its subtitle) "a story of Black Liberation as told through Hip-Hop. As I worked my way through this book, I began to feel that I was not really its targeted audience. Then I came upon this sentence: "Will the industry make me dumb it down (this book) for white people to catch every cultural reference for their own inspiration like the vultures they be?" I am very grateful that it didn't!) As Mr. Duncan defines his topic, "Hip Hop is...the lens that put words to an experience you have been having your whole life in one moment." Throughout this book, there are names that (I thought) I knew, like Nas, Kanye West, Tupak, Trayvon Martin, and James Baldwin), as well as names with which I was only vaguely familiar, like Questlove, Outcast,and The Roots. Duncan does an excellent job of relating the struggles and meaning of Black Liberation and Black Lives Matter through the songs and music and poetry of Hip Hop. I feel that we are all its targeted audience! Recommended!… (altro)