Black Churches Urged to Fight Gangsta Rap

This is good to hear:

African American churches need to speak out against gangsta rap and its negative influence on young people, black pastors from around the country were told this week in Los Angeles.

"The church ought to say, 'If you can't do more positive rap, shut up and get the hell out,' " the Rev. Michael A. Battle, president of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, told the third annual Pastors and Laity Conference that concluded Thursday night with a worship service at West Angeles Church of God in Christ.

In an impassioned plea, Battle, a Baptist preacher who heads the nation's premier center for black church scholarship, said gangsta rap denigrates all young blacks, especially black women.

Battle, speaking at the conference Monday, charged that gangsta rap has stolen "the soul of positive rap," meant to articulate the "sociological circumstances" of African Americans, especially men. Some raps capture the obstacles facing a teen as he tries to "become a man … somebody with character in their turbulent circumstances."

Battle, whose center is home to six theological schools encompassing as many denominations, also attacked the "wealth, health and prosperity part" of the church as "what gangsta rap is to the hip-hop."

He said church leaders have to be bold and confront unpleasant truths about the black community. "Tell the truth, even if you don't get a federal grant," Battle said. "Tell the truth, even if you don't get appreciated by those in power."

Pastors gave him a standing ovation and spirited affirmation, applauding and repeating "Amen."

It's about time. I've been wondering when the black church would get serious about combatting the deadly influence of gangsta rap. It seems that very few African-Americans (for instance Bill Cosby) have been willing to be critical of this music, and it's to the detriment of the entire community that the church has been relatively silent.