You Need To Understand Why #pskdatruth Is Paramount
Killer Mike is all in. Upload @t-bizzle’s video and share it with #pskdatruth.
Raise your voice for @T-Bizzle. Upload his video, share #pskdatruth, and show that art can’t be silenced.
Taylor Bell
In 2011, Taylor Bell, was an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba High in Fulton, Mississippi with a near spotless disciplinary record through his first three and a half years of high school reciving only a single in-school suspension for “tardiness.” When school closed for winter break, he composed, recorded, and posted to Facebook and YouTube a rap song accusing two male teachers/coaches of sexually harassing and assaulting female students.
Four female students submitted sworn affidavits that these accusations were 100% true. The school did not deny the accusations (and still hasn’t denied them), but nonetheless suspended Taylor and forced him to attend the county’s “alternative school” for the rest of the nine-week term. The school’s Disciplinary Committee literally told Taylor to “censor” all the “bad words” in his rap.
Tinker Standard
The technical question presented, on which six circuits are split, is whether the Tinker Standard, which gives schools broad power to censor students’ speech in school, applies to students’ off-campus speech like Taylor’s song.
The federal district court in Mississippi rejected Taylor’s First Amendment claim. A divided Fifth Circuit panel reversed and ruled in Taylor’s favor. But the en banc Fifth Circuit, in a sharply divided decision with 8 opinions including 4 separate dissents, flipped the panel and affirmed the district court’s ruling against Taylor. The Supreme Court is now being asked to hear the case.
This story is about freedom of artistic expression for rap music artists. It’s about disproportionate school discipline of African American students. It’s about caring when adults sexually harass and assault girls of color and actually doing something about it.
#pskdatruth
What can you do? Upload the video and share it with #pskdatruth. Share how grateful you are to use your voice for good with T-Bizzle’s video and #pskdatruth. Show the world that T-Bizzle’s voice should not be silenced. Announce how @T-Bizzle is being punished for speaking truth against sex abuse in our schools. @TIP, @BigBoi and @KillerMike, already agree hip hop should receive first amendment protections.
From Rolling Stone:
“I see a kid who saw wrong happening and was outraged about it,” Killer Mike said of Bell’s song. “He wrote a poem about it over a beat.” The brief added, “Following a long line of rappers before him. Bell saw an opportunity to confront injustice.” After Bell’s suspension, the student and his mother sued the school in an effort to have his record expunged. The 16-member panel of the New Orleans court of appeals heard Bell’s case and, despite a divided opinion, ultimately rejected his appeal, citing “incredibly profane and vulgar” lyrics.
No student should ever be punished at school for reporting sexual misconduct by teachers. No student should ever be punished at school for making art including hip hop. Finally, imagine a white male student getting kicked out of high school for writing and recording a country music song seriously accusing black teachers of sexually abusing white girls at school. Would that ever happen? #pskdatruth
