T.I. has been selected to give a speech at the 2015 Triumph Awards in Atlanta, which recognizes outstanding achievements in humanitarian services. Though T.I. has been a vocal leader of the Black Lives Matter movement, his latest spoken word performance, which you can see below, targets the limitations of social media activism, which he feels is often more narcissistic than objectively productive.
The ceremony was filmed today and will be screened tomorrow. The performance shows Tip's skills both as an orator and as a poet.
Read an excerpt of Tip's speech below.
United we stand
Because we created a hashtag for Sandra Bland
Jumped off the front of the ship and dove into the Internet waves
Swimming with DMs, likes, and comments
Not noticing how much that it makes us slaves
Chained by a man-made device small enough to fit into the palm of our hand
Guess that's what's made it easy to swipe to the left and scroll to the next
And forget about Sandra Bland
Do T.I.'s words ring true?
The full Triumph Awards ceremony will air tomorrow, October 3, on TV One.
