Posted on 06/10/2005 6:33:23 AM PDT by iwannaknow07
Hip-hop music usually gets a bad rap for its misogynistic overtones and violence, but amid the criticism comes a refreshingly courageous song with a message to which parents can proudly expose their children, particularly teens.
"Can I Live?" which debuted recently on Black Entertainment Television's "106th & Park" video music show, stars former Nickelodeon television star, turned rapper and movie star Nick Cannon, as the yet-to-be son of a teenage mother.
The video, set in the 1970s, takes place at an abortion clinic where a teenage mother, played by actress Tatiana Ali, formerly of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," arrives to get an abortion. Cannon, who plays a ghost-version of himself, tries to persuade his mother to choose life and reconsider her decision to terminate her pregnancy.
The mother sits in the waiting room where others are facing the same dilemma. As she fills out medical forms, Cannon's character talks about the struggles she would face as a teenage mother.
Ali's character is then seen in a hospital gown, lying on a table, ready for the abortion procedure. With doctors standing by, Cannon again appears and sees himself in the form of a baby in the ultrasound on a screen behind him.
He implores her to think about the consequences of her actions and what he could become one day if she would only let him live. As if she could hear him, Ali gets up from the examination table and leaves the room. Cannon thanks her.
Ali runs outside to the street and sees a crowd of children of all sizes and ages wearing white t-shirts, emblazoned with three words: "Can I live?" Those words are also heard in the song's chorus, which is sung by various children.
Months later, we see the young mother in a different hospital room surrounded by family and friends while holding her baby.
In the entertainment industry, sex is often viewed as the most effective tool to sell a product. As a mom, however, I would like to think that an uplifting message like that found in the "Can I Live?" video is much more powerful.
While watching this video, I was moved to tears thinking about the mothers who thought they had no other choice but to abort their child, but I was even more affected by the voices of the children, begging to be born.
Hopefully, more mothers who are conflicted over matters of life and death will be able to hear their child's voice as clearly.
Still crying... there are no words. I'd pay for welfare for the rest of my working life if it would stop abortion (it wouldn't... two different dynamics going on). This was just beautiful and I signed his guestbook to let him know how much I admired him.
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That would be most appropriate, since abortion basically amounts to genocide against American Blacks. Three out of five Black children don't make it out of the womb.
Now that's the stuff!
Yes. The process is a bit involved but this video is worth it (plus you will be able to download other streaming video files in the future). This process is particularly valuable to the "bandwidth challenged" who want to see or hear the high resolution versions of streaming video and audio files on the Internet that their Internet connection won't support directly.
2) View the source of the web page with the video and figure out the location of the actual video (this is the tough part). For this video it's:
3) Run Net Transport (or a similar program), select "New", paste in the URL location in step #2 and select the directory you would like to download the file to.
4) Be sure to post the source locations of future video and audio files referenced in threads like this that you find so people like me won't have to!
bttt
Oh my!! This young man is fantastic, brave and my hero. It takes so much to stand up for the right in this day and age. I don't listen to hiphop often, but I'm going to buy this one.
But, Mr. Gannon does not realize how big this is, nor on how many toes he's stepping (stomping, actually).
Fasten your seatbelt, Nick. You're going to have an extremely bumpy ride from here on out.
Agree 100%
Wow. I'm stunned. Beautiful lyrics, beautiful video...
I was thinking that myself... although, I truly hope he stands up for himself, his story, and his video... he's already saved lives. I hope this doesn't end up as a negative aspect of his career... or the end of it.
bttt
Just wear a clock on a necklace, put your hat on sideways, and leave your shoes untied. Then get the sound man to zip up the subwoofers, and THROW DOWN!!
The bluehairs will dig it!
Wow. Very powerful video and song, kudos to Nick Cannon.
Very funny! </extreme sarcasm>
Could you just see AppyPappy doing that in front of a church?!? lol!
No, I couldn't.
That would be nice. I just showed this to the she-wolf and a few of her beauticians. Neither one of these females had a dry eye.
That said a lot.
Do you have a different link, that one didn't work and I would really like to see it.
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