The rapper and actor Tip Harris, better known as T. I., has never hesitated to speak his mind or wade into controversy. But even by his standards, he has had something of an awakening in the past year, which has culminated in a planned series of open letters to President Obama, President-elect Donald J. Trump and America as a whole.
Pained by the high-profile killings of African-Americans at the hands of the police, Mr. Harris began to think about taking action. The tipping point may have come last summer when, within a day of each other, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling were fatally shot by police officers. He met with several activists, including Harry Belafonte and the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, to ask for advice. “The main thing is educating ourselves on the issues and just remaining aware,” Mr. Harris said of the lessons from those meetings.
In addition to speaking on panels, marching in protests and sharing political views on late-night talk shows, Mr. Harris released an EP, “Us or Else,” followed by a full album, “Us or Else: Letter to the System,” that bluntly addresses police harassment. Before releasing his first letter, a reflection on President Obama’s impact, on Friday, he spoke about his hopes for his writing, and the next president. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
