The city of Ferguson, Missouri has been in the news all week due to events stemming from the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a police officer. With St. Louis just about a 20 minute drive away, many people expected hometown hero Nelly to speak up in the days following the shooting, and finally, he has.
Speaking to TMZ about the ensuing protests, the rapper said, "I understand the frustration, but we have to strategize before we overreact ... We don’t get no do-over on shit like this, so we have to do it right the first time. Ain't nothing happen no different that hasn’t been happening ... At the end of the day, we should have waited to strategize first and take all the right steps to organize."
T.I. was also on hand to give his two cents, which echoed Nelly's words: "We needed to play chess instead of checkers. We should have waited to see if justice was going to be served first ... We shouldn’t have played our strongest hand first."
Along with comedian Kevin Hart and basketball star Al Jefferson, Nelly and T.I. have started a scholarship fund in Brown's name. According to TMZ, each celebrity will be "pledging $15,000 a year in college tuition to teens chosen by the Brown family."
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