Tef Poe | |
---|---|
Birth name | Kareem Jackson |
Born | United States |
Origin | St. Louis, Missouri |
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupation(s) | Rapper, musician |
Associated acts |
Common Lupe Fiasco De La Soul Fabolous Talib Kweli MF Doom CeeLo Green |
Tef Poe is an American rapper, musician and activist.
Poe is one of the co-founders of the Hands Up United movement.
Tef Poe has consistently advocated grass-roots involvement in improving the lives of African Americans and in racial justice within and outside the United States. In his art and activism, he insists on the value of local people taking charge of conversations about their own communities rather than relying on national organizations. In an interview, he explained, "And all too often, these conversations are intellectualized and moved completely away from the people who aren't allowed to come into the rooms and intellectualize the different theories surrounding racism. But they did show up in the middle of the street on West Florissant when a militarized police force was encroaching on their neighbors. So many people in pop culture are speaking out now, but they are not speaking in terms of an all-out need for a political revolution in America for Black people."
In March 2016, Poe became the subject of controversy after allegedly making threats of rioting on Twitter if presidential candidate Donald Trump were to win the 2016 presidential election. Poe has contended that his Twitter account was hacked and denies authorship.