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The Roots’ Black Thought may be best known for his work with the band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and elsewhere, but he’s also making  a name for himself in the world’s of philanthropy and women’s health.

In 2010, he and a friend, Dr. Janice Johnson Dias, a sociology professor at John Jay College, partnered to raise awareness about health issues affecting women and girls.

“She laid out for me the ways in which women and girls were dying from breast cancer, suicide and other chronic diseases and explained to me that these things were all connected to obesity and physical inactivity. It was her vision that if we merged the power of hip hop with social science, we can change the way things are,” Black Thought tells Black Enterprise in a one-on-one interview.

As a dad, Black Thought says he was drawn to this effort, as much as he is to certain cities around the country where these illnesses are prevalent; places like Newark, NJ, Philadelphia, and Jackson, MS.

For more about the GrassROOTS Community Foundation, upcoming events and how you can launch a nonprofit effort in support of a cause you care about, read more on BlackEnterprise.com.

President Barack Obama isn’t as funny as his wife Michelle, but he’s nothing to sneeze at either. We saw him partner with late night host, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots to slow jam the news. Sure, The Roots and Jimmy Fallon took care of the funnies but the President held his own by nodding and [awkwardly] dropping the mic at the end of the set. We love it! If this is how the race to White House is getting started, then Obama shouldn’t have a problem.

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For people like myself who really love music debates, the “conscious rapper” topic is one that tends to get people all riled up.  More often than not, someone’s favorite rapper will get talked about in a negative light and come under fire for their actions not always living up to their words.  I’ve learned to not have any real beliefs in the idea of the “conscious” rapper because when you do, you’re also going to get that human side that you only thought belongs to the “gangsta” rapper.  I don’t believe many of the complaints about the “high and mighty conscious rappers” are warranted. I don’t think it’s right to expect them to ALWAYS talk about the plight of black people or to be positive every second of the day.  Then again, in life you’re often forced to take sides. Anyway, enough rambling – just take a look at a few of the conscious rappers and feel free to let me know what you think (I’m also on Twitter…DrennaB).

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There are a lot of controversial moments, works, and speeches in African-American history; not just significant and progressive works but controversial ones that introduced a radical idea to the African-American framework, incited action and/or changed the way some interpreted the plight of Blacks in the diaspora. This list does not include the “I Have A Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. which is one of the most celebrated texts in modern history; rather, it includes those ideas rejected or challenged by the mainstream as well as those that resonate in the minds of many unconventional thinkers today. These are just a handful of those works and ideas from the library of provocative manifestos.

Willie Lynch Letter

Many times, on our comment boards, readers tend to invoke the historical document, the Willie Lynch letter, as a way to explain the roots of Black discord. Well, the Willie Lynch letter is now suspected to be a total fabrication. Who wrote the letter? We still don’t know. Nevertheless, the contents of that letter have sparked a critical discussion in the Black community.

The story is that in 1712, a sla-ve owner named Willie Lynch delivered a speech to other sla-ve-owners about how to control their sla-ves: by pitting them against one another. He instructed them to separate sla-ves by skin color, age, and sex in order to breed distrust and hate. Many have gone to explain this to be the reason between the division between lighter skinned and dark skinned peoples as well as the stressed relationship between black men and black women. The Willie Lynch letter is seen as the blueprint for self-hate in the Black community. Even though the letter is not authentic, it has ignited an important conversation about the ills of relations amongst Black people.