{"id":1287,"date":"2019-10-03T16:50:59","date_gmt":"2019-10-03T20:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2019-10-03T16:50:59","modified_gmt":"2019-10-03T20:50:59","slug":"rap-on-trial-race-lyrics-and-guilt-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/2019\/10\/03\/rap-on-trial-race-lyrics-and-guilt-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/files\/2019\/10\/Rap-on-Trial-cover.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1286\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/files\/2019\/10\/Rap-on-Trial-cover.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2276\" \/><\/a>It&#8217;s one thing to\u00a0<em>know<\/em> your book is coming out, but it&#8217;s quite another to hold it in your hands.\u00a0 The book doesn&#8217;t officially drop until Nov. 12, but last night, I got the advance print copies, and they look great.<\/p>\n<p>More important, we&#8217;ve gotten some very positive early reviews from some of the top scholars and legal practitioners in the country:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201c<em>Rap on Trial<\/em> offers captivating insight on how police, prosecutors, and judges silence and penalize Black music artists. It provides not only a rousing call to action but also a compelling blueprint for necessary change.\u201d<strong>\u2014Michelle Alexander<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>\u201cBy highlighting race in this brilliant, well-researched argument, <em>Rap on Trial<\/em> takes its rightful place within the pantheon of groundbreaking works that unmask the built-in biases of our legal systems.\u201d<strong>\u2014Michael Eric Dyson<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>\u201cAn illuminating, powerful, and disturbing expos\u00e9 of how hip hop\u2019s often raw, fantastical lyrics are taken out of context to criminalize black and brown youth.\u201d<strong>\u2014Robin D.G. Kelley<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>\u201cAn exceptional, nuanced look at how the state transformed an influential art form into a tool of mass incarceration.\u201d<strong>\u2014Anthony D. Romero\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>\u201cNielson and Dennis have blessed us with a smart and engaging book that will make readers mad as hell. An essential read for activists, artists, hip hop heads, and all concerned about civil rights and civil liberties,\u00a0<em>Rap on Trial<\/em>\u00a0does it \u2018for the culture.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<strong>\u2014Paul Butler<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Sadly, as more and more rappers\u00a0 find themselves punished for their lyrics&#8211;the ongoing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2019\/oct\/01\/drakeo-the-ruler-los-angeles-rapper-songs\">Drakeo saga<\/a> is a prime example&#8211;this book is more relevant than ever.\u00a0 Our hope is that our efforts will help raise awareness&#8230;and eventually put an end to rap on trial.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of people supported us with this, but Michael Render (aka Killer Mike) gets his own shout out.\u00a0 He not only wrote the Foreword to the book, but he continues to use his platform to help us end this unfair practice.<\/p>\n<p>(Thanks to Keith Plummer, husband of co-author Andrea Dennis, for this picture!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; It&#8217;s one thing to\u00a0know your book is coming out, but it&#8217;s quite another to hold it in your hands.\u00a0 The book doesn&#8217;t officially drop until Nov. 12, but last night, I got the advance print copies, and they look great. More important, we&#8217;ve gotten some very positive early reviews from some of the top &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/2019\/10\/03\/rap-on-trial-race-lyrics-and-guilt-in-america\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1656,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/enielson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}