T.I. Takes Aim At Social Media Activism with Poem "United We Stand"

This past weekend, TV One aired the 2015 Triumph Awards, a National Action Network presented show recognizing outstanding achievements in humanitarian services. The evening’s performers included Tyrese Gibson, Estelle, Ledisi, and Jazmine Sullivan, but T.I.’s minute-long spoken word poem seems to be one of the more attention grabbing segments from the show.

T.I. takes aim at social media activism with his gripping spoken word piece entitled, “United We Stand.” “Are we really about the movement or more concerned with our follower count growing fatter?” TIP has some valid points here. Social media activism can be a valuable tool (even without the purest of intentions), but in and of itself is not nearly enough to effect any real change in this world. Watch the performance below (with the transcript under it) - let us know your thoughts in the comments.

United we stand/ Because we created a hashtag for Sandra Bland

Jumped off the front of the ship and dove into the Internet waves

Swimming with DMs, likes, comments/ Not noticing how much it makes us slaves

Chained by man-made device small enough to fit into the palm of our hand

I guess that’s made it easy to swipe to the left and scroll to the next

And forget about Sandra Bland

United we stand

Because we wore hoodies and T-shirts that read ’Black Lives Matter’

But, ’Quick homie take this flick

Gotta make sure all my followers see this fresh ’fit’

Are we really about the movement or more concerned with our follower count growing fatter?

Secondary to revolutionary does not exist

Our society’s issues are deeper than social media posts, there’s a long list

And if you think solely making them a trending topic will solve them

Well, then, you’re a part of the problem

We are Trayvon Martin

We are Jordan Davis

We are Eric Garner

We are Tamir Rice

We are Walter Scott

We are Eric Harris

We are Freddie Gray

And We are Sandra Bland

United we stand.

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