Despite the protestations of some media figures, a rapper performed in front of schoolchildren Wednesday evening at the White House. Somehow, the Earth kept turning.
The Grammy-winning hip-hop stalwart Common was one of several artists who celebrated poetry and the spoken word before an audience of dozens of high-schoolers, President Obama and the first lady.
“I woke up with the sunshine, a sunshine I had never seen,” Common rapped gently over a twinkling piano accompaniment. “There was light at the end of it, reminding me to forever dream. I was dreaming I walked into the White House with love on my sleeve and love for each and every one of you, reminding you to believe.”
The whole event — part of Michelle Obama’s White House Music Series — was a PG-rated PSA for poetry and arts education, but the media conjured a controversy before it even happened.
This week, Common was deemed a “vile,” “cop killer rapper” in headlines on Fox Nation, a Web site run by Fox News. Criticism sprang from other conservative fountainheads, including former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (who tweeted her disapproval), the Daily Caller (which excerpted lyrics through which Common bemoaned police conduct and President George W. Bush’s initiation of the war in Iraq) and Fox News anchor Sean Hannity (who Tuesday devoted 10 minutes of his show to what the network branded “The Invitation”).
The noise of outside outrage didn’t penetrate the relaxed, melodic atmosphere of the East Room, where Common was just another member of a varied cast of poets: singer-songwriters Aimee Mann and Jill Scott; former U.S. poets laureate Rita Dove and Billy Collins; avant-garde poets Alison Knowles and Kenneth Goldsmith; and comedian-banjoist Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers. The music series has previously hosted acts from the genres of country music, classical music, Latin music and Motown.
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