by SaurKraut

Created on: April 16, 2008

Although Alicia Keys has been raising money for AIDS in Africa, I remain skeptical. Let me give you a little background on how Alicia Keys functions, so you can understand why I question her motives.

In a recent interview with Blender Magazine, Alicia Keys blew a fuse. According to Blender, Keys claims:

"Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. Gangsta rap' didn't exist." She says that the rivalry between slain artists Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. was fueled "by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing."

Uh huh. What's Alicia been smoking lately, and has she been sharing it with Britney Spears?

The deaths of Tupac and B.I.G. occurred during the Clinton administration. If Alicia truly believes this garbage, are we to assume she's voting Republican this year?

The childish mindset behind this is simply appalling. Such beliefs are called 'magical thinking' and they're the mark of an immature mind. This isn't simply someone's well-reasoned opinion: It is, in musical terminology, a few keys short of a piano.

Additionally, I would like to make the observation that if Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. were 'great black leaders', then the black community needs some higher standards. They were no more 'leaders' than Michael Vick was. Sadly, even though they weren't leaders, all those men were idealized by many black people.

For example, in November of 2007, Vick was named the favorite NFL star among the black youth of America. Others idealize Shakur and B.I.G. even though those men were violent thugs who died from making their own choices in life: If you go looking for trouble, you'll find it.

In contrast, these guys make Martin Luther King look like a saint. Although MLK plagiarized and cheated on his wife repeatedly, at least he preached peace and unity and brought positive changes to the black community. Overall, I admire MLK (as do many people).

My friend Rosie (who's black) agrees with me: She doesn't get it either. And there are many intelligent, educated black people who would fall in step with Rosie. But why don't more black people make better choices for their role models? (Of course the black community isn't alone in this mistake, or we wouldn't have teenagers behaving like Paris Hilton and dressing like Britney Spears).

Alicia's crazy views tarnish her message about AIDS. One wonders: Does she share the same magical thinking with Barack Obama's minister, Jeremiah Wright? Wright says the government created AIDS to infect and kill black people. Does Alicia's paranoia extend to this belief also? Is her anger toward white America partially due to this mistaken belief?

Finally, why does Alicia concentrate her efforts on the AIDS epidemic overseas? Although Africa is glamorous, it's hardly beneficial to her fans, who primarily reside in the United States. We have our own issues, our own causes, and our own unsolved troubles.

Perhaps Alicia should stop worrying about AIDS in Africa, and should start worrying about the role models, ethics, and problems among our own youth.

Instead of raising money for people overseas, it's time for Alicia to get educated, and encourage education as well. I would recommend she concentrate her efforts on fundraising for the famous and worthwhile UNCF (United Negro College Fund). As their slogan says, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."

Learn more about this author, SaurKraut.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.