Musician Lupe Fiasco Headlines Film Screening on Civil Rights Struggle

Last night, the Jack Morton Auditorium played host to hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco and producer Chris Moore for a discussion with SMPA director Frank Sesno about a film project entitled The People Speak.

The film, to air December 13th at 8 p.m. on the History Channel, consists of actors, vocal artists, and other celebrities reading and performing the works of the “dissenters” of American history.

The works include letters, journal entries, songs, and more written by people who struggled through some of the nation’s most controversial issues, including civil rights.

Lupe kicked off the event with a reading of boxer Muhammad Ali’s speech in 1966 about his refusal to fight in Vietnam. A short clip of The People Speak was played immediately following which included a reading of Frederick Douglass by Don Cheadle, and John Legend’s performance of a Billie Holiday song “Strange Fruit,” which is about lynching.

Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves
Blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
                                                   — “Strange Fruit”

Sesno asked of Lupe and Moore their motives for getting involved in the project, which was inspired by Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States. Both of the guests expressed how the idea moved them, from its inception to the final product.

The last forty-five minutes of the program were devoted to questions from the audience. Some requested Lupe’s and Moore’s presence at other events; others requested DVDs. But many asked how to change the adversities that people face today. To these questions, Lupe and Moore responded, “You.”

Watch the trailer for The People Speak