Kurtis Blow Wants To Talk To Virginia Attorney General Who Claims He Wore Blackface To Look Like Him
Hip-Hop icon Kurtis Blow wants to meet with Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring who admitted to wearing blackface at a 1980’s party to look like the “The Breaks” rapper.
“I would love to talk to him and pray for him,” Blow said during an exclusive interview with the NY Daily News.
Four days after calling for the resignation of Virginia’s governor, Ralph Northam, after enduring his own blackface controversy, Herring made the confession.
The 59-year-old rapper turned minister was shocked when he heard the news about Herring. “It’s just shocking that we still have blackface representing what this country or this society is really all about,” he said.
Blow wants to meet with the attorney general to possibly reach a place of forgiveness. When asked what he thinks next steps should be for Herring, Blow said that Herring should do what his constituents in Old Dominion ask of him.
“We all do stupid things when we’re young, and this was done so long ago with Mark Herring, but there are many different ways to pay tribute to someone if you really like their music or style,” Blow said.“When you paint your face, that is the most egregious and disrespectful thing you can do considering what we’ve been through. It’s opening up some deep, historical scars.”
Blow read Herring’s apology and finds it questionable.
“I just would love to ask, ‘What were you thinking?’ How could he call for the resignation, knowing he had the same situation in his own past,” Blow said. “He had the same skeleton in his own closet.”
The hip-hop veteran said that no one from Herring’s staff has tried to reach out to him.
Yesterday, luxury fashion brand Gucci was in hot water over a black $890 balaclava sweater that resembled blackface. The knitted top was a part of Gucci’s Fall Winter 2018 collection and has now been removed from the brand’s online store and all physical store locations.
Glennisha Morgan is a Detroit-bred multimedia journalist and writer. She writes about intersectionality, hip-hop, pop culture, queer issues, race, feminism, and her truth.
