It is no secret that acclaimed rapper Lupe Fiasco harbors very strong political opinions. His 2006 debut album contains “American Terrorist,” an exploration of United States foreign policy dating back to the oppression of Native Americans by the pilgrims. His second album, 2007’s The Cool, is a concept album with a heavy bend toward diagnosing societal ills.
Lupe’s interest in government and societal issues led him, along with a bevy of stars — including Matt Damon (The Informant), Viggo Mortenson (The Road) and Marisa Tomei (Amsterdam) — to team up with executive producer Chris Moore (Feast) for the film adaptation of A People’s History of the United States and Voices of a People’s History — books written by noted political scientist Howard Zinn.
The film, titled The People Speak, premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. on the History Channel.
A People’s History of the United States, first published in 1980, is a compilation of various monumental speeches delivered by both leaders and influential thinkers, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Eugene Debs, Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. The aforementioned follow-up was published in 2004 and follows a similar format. The books have been translated to the screen by actors and musicians (including Lupe) who read out sections they find particularly striking.
Lupe reads “The War on Vietnam,” by the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, in the film. He also contributed his song “American Terrorist” to The People Speak soundtrack and participated in the film’s nation-wide promotional tour through eight universities, which wrapped Dec. 4 at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Moore described the process of getting such an ambitious and important film made and broadcasting it to the people.
“There was a group of us. [We] went around to all the different channels saying, ‘Look we want to be on TV because TV is more of the medium of the people.’ As much as I make movies, we thought TV would reach a lot more people. There’s some natural, obvious connection … They looked at it, and they looked at it and said this is something that’s real history.”
Considering the timing of the release of the documentary almost a year after President Barack Obama was elected, one might be inclined to believe the two occurrences are related.
“I’m not a supporter of Obama’s administration,” Lupe said in an interview with The Diamondback, putting to rest the notion that the project was motivated out of Obama-love.
Lupe went on to explain his broader political views as his rationale for being one of the few in the hip-hop community to not support Obama.
“I’m apolitical, that’s why I don’t support Bush, Obama, Reagan, Carter,” Lupe said. “To me it’s a systemic problem.”
When asked if he supported former President George Washington, Lupe only chuckled and shook his head.
Moore addressed concerns about the documentary’s bias more explicitly.
“It started while Bush was president,” Moore said. “Howard’s book’s been out there since 1980. I think that we definitely found a group of people who were a little bit frustrated and wanted to get the message out there of dissent and questioning authority. So maybe we just got lucky.”
In fact, the central message of the book can better be described as promoting activism rather than any specific agenda. If anything, everyone involved in the film seems to believe most in the power of populism and the ability of the people to change and influence their government.
“Dissent doesn’t equal radicalism,” Lupe said. “If you feel it’s a problem, then it’s a problem. If you don’t say anything, then it’s not going to change anything … If they walk away with that — to see that this is ordinary people in extraordinary events — they become extraordinary people. They become superhuman by acting.”
vmain13@umdbk.com
