John Legend and Common: Activism through musical lyrics and the Oscars

After winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song as the co-writer of “Glory” from the film Selma, the Grammy-winning rapper Common, gave an impassioned speech on the struggle for freedom throughout the world. The rapper—whose lyrics in “Glory” refer to the protests in Ferguson, Mo. last year after a police officer killed an unarmed black teen—also pressed for criminal justice reforms in New York City when a grand jury in Staten Island decided not to indict a police officer who placed Eric Garner in a chokehold, causing his death. Garner was also a black, unarmed man.Nine-time Grammy winner John Legend was the other co-writer of “Glory.” In his acceptance speech, he touched upon burgeoning civil rights and criminal justice issues in the country today.

Legend also spoke about the country’s high incarceration rates of black men. “We live in the most incarcerated country in the world. There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850,” said Legend.

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