Nas has spoken out with an open letter entitled ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS published on Mass Appeal.

He says “We All Know a Racist Is in Office” and speaks about the action that we all need to take! Here is an excerpt of the letter, read it in full on Mass Appeal here.

The only way the black man gets a little piece in America is if he takes the O.J. stance: “I’m not black, I’m O.J.” When you ignore the shit that’s happening to people you can live in this fantasy, this American fantasy that you belong to… who? You ignore what’s happening, and that gives you peace. Because what’s going on is enough to make people insane.

Some guy lynched in a tree at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia, and the cops rule it a suicide. Now, don’t get me wrong—suicides happen. There are blacks suffering from mental illness just like whites suffering from mental illness, except that whites who suffer from mental illness and have interactions with the cops, they end up living. Blacks, we get killed. So if you want to sit back and ignore all that, go the O.J. route. Just remember, even he got dealt with at the end of the day.

So where do I stand? I stand just as a man, doing what I have to do. Doing what I was born to do. No one can tell me who I am. No one can tell me where I can go and cannot go.

No one can tell me what’s right based on what works for their system, and have me believe it. Nah.

The Creator put us here to do our thing, so I do my thing. And I don’t pay attention to politics at the moment. For what? There’s no reason. For me, it doesn’t make any sense. We all know a racist is in office. People can talk their shit. Comedians can sound racist. People can go through their moments of that shit, but when you have the responsibility of being President and you carry on like that, you send a strong message to people outside of your group that they ain’t worth shit.

So why would I focus on that unless I’m in the political game? Unless I’m running for office I don’t have to pay attention to know that. If I ever vote again—when it’s time to vote again, and I feel like voting again—I don’t have to follow the news to know who I’m voting against. But then you wind up saying “Who’s the next motherfucker coming in, and how does that help?”