Occupy Wall Street movement “leader” Priscilla Grim told TMZ that she is insulted by Jay-Z’s attempt to “profit off of the first important social movement of 50 years with an overpriced piece of cotton.”
Grim’s anger was provoked by Jay-Z’s creative attempt at marketing a little Occupy Wall Street swag in the form of a T-shirt emblazoned with the message “Occupy All Streets.”
Jay was recently photographed wearing the shirt standing alongside fellow rap icon-
turned-mogul, Russell Simmons. Simmons has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Occupy movement since its inception.
Though Jay has not commented publicly on the controversy, the shirts have been pulled from Rocawear.com.
According to Grim, the fact that Rocawear would attempt to make a profit from Occupy-related swag makes Jay-Z “a scrotum.” She told TMZ, “… as talented as Jay-Z is , he has the political sensibility of a hood rat.”
I’m thinking the Occupy Wall Street movement doesn’t have “leadership,” but if it did, Grim’s comments would be an example of how not to address a hard-working black man who, like Simmons, has gobs of money, skills and notoriety to bring to a movement that could benefit greatly from them.
I’m going to assume Grim knows full well what a scrotum is, but I’m wondering if she understands that in hip-hop culture “hood rat” is a misogynistic term most often used to demean black women. Standing up for society’s economic underdogs by tossing sexist, racially-charged epithets at a wealthy and well-connected black man? How does that add value to the Occupy movement?
Occupying Wall Street is not, at its heart, supposed to be about hating rich people, nor is it about resenting the entrepreunerial spirit that leads to wealth. The movement is supposed to be about hating the evil machinations of the uber-connected who change and arrange the game so they can win at all costs.
I am definitely a part of Grim’s aptly named “99 percent,” but I’m not mad at the shirt in the least. I’m thinking an “overpriced piece of cotton” takes nothing away from the 99 percent that we will not part with willingly. I would be much more motivated to buy a shirt from Jay-Z if he were contributing a portion of proceeds to a worthy cause, but it seems that option didn’t come up before the insults started flying.
Grim may have succeeded in getting Rocawear to nix the shirt, but you can believe an eager entrepreneur will be bringing a similar version to a barbershop near you. –kathleen cross
