Dawoud Bey, Steven, Kenwood Academy High School, 2003, Chromogenic print, Courtesy of the artist, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, and Gorney Bravin + Lee

Interview Excerpt

Audio: (1.3MB mp3 file; 1 minute 41 seconds)

Even though I may be athletic or what, you know, I'm not like the typical jock you know: I like to write and I like to do lyrical song construction. I do like a little bit of poetry and I like to... I might write a little bit of raps and stuff, about what I see my neighborhood or what I see in the city—poverty and discrimination and things like that, and violence, police, racial profiling... I was only like 13 or 14 and they made us put our hands on the car, and they searched us and stuff, for like no reason; we weren't even doing nothing. I think we were playing football or something like that. You know, I could be doing far worse things playing football for a reason if you want to check me. I was kind of upset. But the only way we can change it is if we, like, elect certain people that can help change it. Our people got to vote, 'cause you can't change anything without the right power or the right person to do it. You can talk all you want but, you know, you gotta, you gotta do something about it, so you gotta vote, or petition, or march, or speak or something, you know. You can't just write about it in the songs and collect the money when it... when it sells.