Dear Will Smith,
We know that you love your wife, but do you remember your grandma Gigi‘s advice, when you started your nascent rap career? She said that intelligent people don’t need to use offensive language or profanity to express themselves.
You not only let her down with the words that came out of your mouth on Oscar night 2022. But you also let down a lady you’ve most likely never heard of, Ms Serwah or Awula Serwah, who was inspired by you almost 20 years to the day, to set up a small, London, UK voluntary organisation that’s been inputting positively into people’s lives, and urging young people and adults to eschew profanity, or curse words.
Beyond The Will Smith Challenge, or BTWSC, launched with a seminar on March 23 2002 in east London entitled ‘The Uplifting Power of Music & Words’, which highlighted the prevalence of questionable lyrics and imagery aimed at the youth.
The organisation’s name and eponymous project was inspired by your hit single ‘Freakin It’, which threw a challenge to gangsta rappers to come up with a hit song without using offensive language.
Subsequent projects, including the current edutainment Music4Causes stran
Issued by TAOBQ (The African Or Black Question) on behalf of BTWSC, Music4Causes and Ako
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