Grammy-winning hip-hop star Common said his life changed with a vision of Emmett Till, an African-American teen murdered by a racist mob in Mississippi in 1955. A young man himself, Common was working as a ball boy for the Chicago Bulls when he felt Till’s spirit next to him, he said, whispering, “Greatness is in you.”
And greatness was the theme of Common’s keynote address at For Members Only’s annual State of the Black Union Monday night. Before an audience of about 300, Common laid out a three step program for success: find a path in life, believe in that path and live it.
He began not with a lecture, but in a style more appropriate of a hip-hop legend: “I like to start off with a little freestyle,” he said, followed by crowd uproar. Common spit out a rap referencing a number of Northwestern hotspots, including Sheridan Road, the Rock and — of course — the Keg.
Weinberg junior Kellyn Lewis, FMO’s vice coordinator of external relations, said he appreciated that Common brought a non-political tone to the conversation. “He addresses issues that bridge music and social activism,” he said.
In the question-and-answer session that followed the speech, Common discussed his youth development nonprofit, the Common Ground Foundation. The foundation offers tutoring and leadership programs for young people in cities across the country.
He encouraged students to follow their passions and be proud of their work, a lesson he said he learned from Kanye West. “You all know that he has no problem believing in himself,” Common joked.
Common said the music business taught him about failure. After the release of his album Be, Common was nominated for five Grammies. After losing all five nominations, he said he realized that “everything is not going to go your way.”
“That’s when greatness comes out,” he said. “When you are challenged.”
Additional reporting by Vanessa Dopker.