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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Image Entertainment
Salesrank: 79257
Released: June 28, 2005 |
| Our Price: $5.56 |
| Used Price: $2.50 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
This feature-length documentary showcases hip-hop's close-knit ties to America's social and political policies in the last thirty years. Even before hip-hop, black musical artists of the past have been at the forefront of civil rights and black power movements of the late '60s and '70s. See how those movements were destroyed by the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover, and witness rap's birth from those movements and its own progression from being music heard at weekend block parties to its lyrics being debated in the halls of Congress. Letter to the President delves deeply into President Ronald Reagan's policies that negatively affected minority communities and inspired pioneer rap artists such as Grandmaster Melle Mel and Run DMC to tell the whole world about it in song. Then in the "glamorous" '80s, as some people prospered and many minority communities suffered, artists such as Russell Simmons struggled to get laws overturned that targeted those minorities.
Letter to the President Reviews:
surprising documentary 
2009-01-09 - As it is narrated by Snoop Dogg who I never have seen as particularly socially conscious, I was expecting a documentary with a lot of samples of hip hop music and then the artist or others using many swear words to explain what the music was really saying. To my surprise and pleasure, this was much more. The artists who are mainly speaking about subjects of the economy of the late 70s and into the 80s, the crack epidemic, how automatic guns get into the inner city, up to the current war are KRS-ONE, Chuck D, and others usually seen as socially conscious. They talk about how rap became socially conscious, how gangsta rap was often socially conscious, and how the big record companies are now suppressing socially conscious hip hop. This is more of a history-timeline type documentary and is very good. They never touch upon the 'does music simply reflect society or does it affect society' issue but it is definitely one that I would suggest for a library of good documentaries. If you are looking for a lot of music and entertainment, this isn't it, but it flows well and keeps you engaged.
THEY GET IT! 
2008-02-06 - This was a surprise. These rappers get it. But, nobody, not even BET television want to show this side of hip hop. Why not? Are yuo afraid the younguns might really listen and make some changes and you won't be prepared? Well, prepare yourself. They get it. Who's next?
Society does not profit from incarceration
2006-06-04 - I am repsonding to the first poster. The idea that society at large profits from incarcerating blacks is ludicrous.Prisons are an enormous drain on society's resources, that could otherwise be used for more constructive purposes. Incarceration is the way in which modern socities (humanely) protect themselves from criminal threats in their midst. There are specific companies which RUN prisons at a profit but taxpayers must still foot the bill. Incarceration rates for black males reflect crime rates for the same. Black males commit violent crime at a rate 8 to 12 times that of their white pears. Blacks actually receive lighter sentences than whites on average because they are more concentrated in urban areas where legal systems are more saturated.
Letter to the President
2006-03-25 - its refreshing to hear the rap, hip-hop point of view. the prisons for profit are the crime of the century. its legal slavery....
Great Introduction.
2005-12-01 - Letter to the president is a wonderful introduction to the world of hip-hop. Like any genre of music, or movies or books, or even within a political organization there are people (in this case Hip-Hop artists) who are shallow and dont deserve the spotlight. Many people view rapping/hip-hop as a joke, and one large reason (although not the only) is because Hip-Hop Has become corporatized. Much like Hollywood has. I, Robot is a crappy movie meant solely to get as much money as possible. There are many movies like this. And same goes for hip hop. Some artists sacrifice content and importance for money. The same is true of any genre of music though, just look at britney spears.
This movie attempts to explain the other side of the genre. It doesnt defend the bad, but it just says there are artists and songs out there with a deeper message, and in this case, a political message. Worth watching.
