© Mario Anzuoni / Reuters
Professor Griff (L), Flava Flav (C) and Chuck D of Public Enemy perform at the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Los Angeles April 18, 2013.
Professor Griff, co-founder of the legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy, told RT he is skeptical of Black Lives Matter but still believes it has helped broaden his understanding of the challenges African-Americans face.
Professor Griff, whose real name is Richard Griffin, is the Minister of Information for Public Enemy, which, in its 1990s heyday, was a powerful cultural and political force during a tumultuous era for race relations in the United States. Now, as official police brutality and murder of black Americans has become a central theme of organization and attention in the US, Professor Griff told RT America's Watching the Hawks that he sees Black Lives Matter as a vehicle for increased social understanding of America's institutional treatment of black people.
However, he's also concerned that the movement has been co-opted by powerful forces, and that law enforcement and others could easily target the movement's organizers and manipulate its actions.
"I think it's hot and heavy right now, and as we can see, there's different cultures, there's different peoples, nationalities coming together under the Black Lives Matter," he told Watching the Hawks.
Comment: A report of the earlier incident: