Common calls John Lewis and Michelle Obama true leaders of our time

Common was the first rapper ever to win the holy trifecta of an Emmy, a Grammy and an Oscar, so he definitely knows the power of his voice and how to use it. After marching alongside Black Lives Matter protesters, and speaking at a rally for justice for Breonna Taylor, Common is continuing to put that voice to good use with the We Matter Too campaign, which highlights how the COVID-19 global pandemic has disproportionately affected incarcerated women and men (a disproportionate number of which are people of colour). As he told Jimmy Fallon during a recent apperance on The Tonight Show (weeknights 11:35ET on CTV2), he would love to hear the voices of those in leadership positions unified in reforming the police and dismantling systems of oppression in America.“Leadership is very important, whether it’s leadership on the local levels, the state levels or the federal levels,” he said via video chat. “The leadership has to understand and create an environment where even if you disagree or if you come in with a prejudged point of view, that we kinda gotta unlearn that. We got to teach ourselves to understand each other.” He continued, “And even if I don’t agree—like from the police standpoint, to the government standpoint, to state officials, and anybody in positions of power—if you don’t know the people you’re representing, and you’re not compassionate to them, it’s gonna end up not turning out the best. Leadership is about compassion. Leadership is about love. The best leaders lead with love. That’s why we salute John Lewis. That’s why we salute Michelle Obama.”FYI: Joe Biden still hasn't announced his VP pick. *cough* Michelle Obama *cough*.[video_embed id='1566963']RELATED: Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ is as good as you’d expect [/video_embed]Known for his conscious-raising tracks, the poet laureate of hip hop spoke eloquently with Jimmy about how discussion and dissent is good within a debate. “Jimmy, my thing is like, it’s cool and okay to disagree. It’s okay to say things that, actually, sometimes some of the things that are said, it’s gonna hurt. It’s gonna hurt the other party, at times, on the other side. Hopefully it becomes one side at a certain point. But my point is: the truth has to come out. And that’s what healing is.”Healing, he said, can also only come from raising our voices to talk about injustices, like the killing of Breonna Taylor, which, as Common pointed out, goes a step further than police brutality at large. A conversation that gets lost is how society is much more inclined to talk about Black men killed by police than Black women.

 

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#SayHerName: It has been over 100 days since Breonna Taylor was Murdered by police. I'm honored to stand alongside these incredible Black Women and my brother Kyrie Irving to demand justice for our dear sister Breonna. Join us for a special program tomorrow at 7 PM ET on @PlayersTV’s YouTube. Link coming! #BlackLivesMatter

A post shared by Common (@common) on Jul 7, 2020 at 2:54pm PDT

“Jimmy, me going to do the rally for Breonna Taylor is also another thing about, 'Hey, it’s a human being, a human life was taken, and it was unjust,'” he explained. “We need to at least bring attention to this and bring justice to it in the best way possible. And women in this situation of police killings haven’t been highlighted as much, so it was important for me, as a man, to show up.”Speaking of showing up, Common also took the stage at Dave Chappelle’s socially-distanced block party back in early July. He said the performance felt like, “freedom,” and both he and girlfriend Tiffany Haddish (yes the two are officially an item) were elated to get up on stage again. “Tiffany was left of stage, like, ‘Yo, I feel, like, high!’ Like, she was emotional! […] It was one of the best times I had in a while. You know Dave Chappelle knows how to throw a block party, but this is something on the next level.”Watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon weeknights at 11:35ET on CTV2.[video_embed id='2006013']BEFORE YOU GO: John Legend reveals what Chrissy Teigen thinks about his love songs [/video_embed]