Rap Mogul Slams NRA: 'Our Community Is Not Interested in a Corporate Sponsored Gun Group Telling Us What to Do

Russell Simmons(Photo: AP)

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons has again lashed out against the National Rifle Association, publishing a column on his website GlobalGrind.com entitled "The NRA & Black People: Ain't Nobody Got Time for That!"

In the blog post published Thursday Simmons criticizes a new video released from NRA News with an African-American contributor advocating gun rights. The music and fashion magnate accuses the NRA of using fear to make the "defenseless" believe "in interests that are contrary to their very own preservation." Simmons writes:

I find the message of this new video by the NRA deeply troubling, where the guy in the Yankees hat is advocating that our people arm themselves and fight the government (all under the banner of the NRA). Quite hypocritical of them, as during the Civil Rights movement, when the government was overtly oppressing our people, the NRA was quick to pressure legislatures across the country to get the guns out of the hands of the Black militants who were ready to fight back. I guess those weren't the "well-regulated militias" they had in mind when they read their version of the Second Amendment. But, now that we have a Black President, and we have made great progress in creating a more equal playing field in America (although we still have much work to do), the NRA is encouraging us to pick up guns again and start poppin'. With smokescreens and a barrage of bullets, the NRA is intentionally playing into the fears of a very few people. Very, very few.

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Our community is not interested in a corporate sponsored gun group telling us what to do, when their real mission is to make more money for the corporations that line their dirty pockets with rolls of cash and silver bullets.

Simmons is the co-founder of the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, Phat Farm fashion line, and UniRush Financial, Inc., among other business ventures. With a reported net worth of $340 million, Simmons was a supporter of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Thursday's column was not Simmons's first commentary on the NRA, writing on GlobalGrind.com in July:

Only in the land of the free, where politicians can be legally bribed and our democracy is for sale, do citizens have access to weapons of war. Well, I'm not a politician, so the NRA can't silence me and they certainly ain't gonna punk me!

The time has come for our nation to face the National Rifle Association and its bullying-tactics.

Following this latest attack on the NRA, the contributor from the Youtube video detested by Simmons, Colion Noir, fired back via Twitter.

Breitbart reports that Noir has been making Youtube videos supporting gun rights for some time, but since his work with NRA News, Noir's Youtube channel has attracted more than 7 million views.  NRANews announced on March 1 that Noir had been hired by the NRA as a contributor.