Vic Mensa penned an essay for Billboard to process and share his feelings about the 2016 election results that earned Donald Trump the presidency.
In his essay, Mensa says he believes the result was necessary because of the current state of the country. "I realized that this had to happen because we've been pacified by having Barack [Obama] in office. That pacification would have only continued by having Hillary [Clinton] elected."
It's a sobering thought, but one that Vic elaborates on throughout the essay. From there, he describes how the U.S. hasn't been safe for blacks, even under Obama. He supports this point by mentioning the many unarmed black men who have been killed at the hands of armed police officers. "We've been getting killed in the streets by police like dogs with a black president in the White House and there's no accountability for those white officers," he explains. "We already had to motherfucking watch our back. This was not a safe place for us to begin with."
Vic has often used his platform to speak out on issues. The rapper's latest single, "16 Shots," was inspired by and dedicated to 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was fatally shot 16 times by Chicago police in 2014. The politically charged video focuses on Vic as a victim of police brutality. "This record is like self-defense," Vic previously said in an interview. "Since then a lot of things have changed, but one main thing hasn't changed is that our lives are not respected."
The essay ends with Vic looking for hope and to inspire the country to come together. "We need to unify and decide what it is that we really believe in—that's what we need to fight for. We can't just fight against injustice. We gotta fight for justice." You can read Vic Mensa's full essay for Billboard right here.
