Award-winning inspirational hip-hop artist Lecrae will be performing at the Atlanta Hawks annual MLK Day game on Monday, Jan. 20! He will be performing at both halftime and postgame when the Hawks take on the Toronto Raptors.
Lecrae has won two Grammys and nine Dove Awards including the 2019 Album of the Year for his collaboration with Atlanta producer Zaytoven, Let the Trap Say Amen. Lecrae’s ninth album, Restoration, will be released on Reach/Columbia Records in March 2020.
“I’m excited to take the court with Atlanta’s finest. I want the city to come celebrate MLK Day with me and the Hawks,” said Lecrae. “I’m honored to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on a historic day.”
The game at State Farm Arena has an early 2:30 p.m. tip off and the Hawks have a special ticket offer for groups of 10 or more to celebrate the MLK Holiday at State Farm Arena. Each ticket as part of the ‘Faith and Family’ offer includes $10 worth of food and beverage credit that can be used at restaurants inside the arena. Fans can go toHawks.com/Lecrae to learn more.
Along with serving as the annual MLK commemorative match-up, the date is also a Peachtree Night game, which features the Hawks wearing their 2019-20 Nike Peachtree City Edition uniforms and the accompanying Peachtree-themed basketball court. The remaining dates for the Hawks “Peachtree Nights” are:
1/18 vs. Detroit Pistons
1/20 vs. Toronto Raptors
1/22 vs. Los Angeles Clippers
2/20 vs. Miami Heat
2/22 vs. Dallas Mavericks
3/31 vs. New Orleans Pelicans
4/7 vs. Detroit Pistons
For more info on Hawks Peachtree Nights, visit Hawks.com/Peachtree. Be sure to follow Lecrae on all social media @Lecrae.
Imagine you’ve entered into my prayer closet…This is what is what you will hear today…
Dear Lord,
Your child Kanye is back in the news again (not that I really needed to inform You of this because You are omniscient)…as if he has ever been out of the news since his first album “The College Dropout” dropped in 2004…I loved his song “Jesus Walks” Lord because it glorified your son and it was banging…And although he didn’t seem like a usual Christian artist based on his repertoire, I knew that song had to mean something to him. It was so in your face. And then he was dating a Delta at the time (“Through the Wire” – “She was with me before the deal she been trying to be mine. She a Delta so she been throwing that dynasty sign.) And he was cute.
And it’s true that his first album was his best album to me anyway, but everything ain’t for everybody and that’s fine. And then he dropped his woman who he was with before the record deal and the fame and fortune and got with different women. But you don’t have to be a famous and fortunate man to have a revolving door of relationships and with fame and fortune, the revolving door probably turns at whiplash speed. And I appreciated his outburst about Hurricane Katrina. It may have not been true, but I respect the sentiment behind his delivery…He spoke from the heart and used his platform to highlight a critical issue…
And Lord, I really don’t understand why his mother had to die when she did in 2007 and so tragically too. I don’t care how famous someone gets and how much fortune someone amasses, nothing compares to having a loving family including your parents in your corner…And let’s be honest Lord, that’s when he started being in the news for not-so-good stuff. I mean it’s been 10 years this year since your child interrupted another one of your children Taylor Swift during one of her first big moments at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009 and people are still talking about it…Even then your child President Obama, who is from Kanye’s hometown of Chicago, had to weigh in on your child’s tomfoolery…
And then Lord, your child seemed like he was trying to return his first love…Your son Jesus…with his new Sunday Service. And yeah, I was a bit put off by the high-behind Sunday Service merch…(By the way, Lord, did you know that I was yesterday’s years old when I realized that ‘murch’ was actually ‘merch’ and short for merchandise. Why didn’t you reveal that to me sooner? All this time, when I would hear people saying ‘murch,’ I wanted to ask, ‘What is that?’ But I didn’t want to look stupid.) But on the other hand, nobody can force me to part with dollars unless that’s what I already wanted to do.
And then Lord, after your child took his Sunday Service on the road, he finally came to the capital of the Civil Rights, Atlanta, and brought his Sunday Service to New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. I didn’t make it, but I read the glowing reviews. I heard your child had folk waitin’ in line for hours just get into church. Ain’t that somethin’ Lord?! That’s what you been tryin’ get us to do. Spread the word that Jesus is King. But we are so disobedient some time…And by the way, thank You God, he no longer refers to himself as Yeezus. Lord, You stay forgiving us when we falter… Lord, your hashtag should be #GraceandMercy…I kid Lord, You know and I know You’re above all of that, but I know You’re cracking a smile because I’m one of your favorites…Just kidding…all your children are all blessed and highly favored…
And then Lord, your child acted like he didn’t even visit the civil rights capital of the world when he made some controversial statements following his visit…Your child New Birth Pastor Jamal Bryant, who once welcomed your child Kanye to New Birth, had some thangs to say ’bout that too…although his “Jesus Is King” album is spreading your word in a way that many other Christian artists aspire too…I mean, when was the last time You saw, “Jesus is King” as headline in the New York Times?!! (Here’s the exact headline…Kanye West’s ‘Jesus Is King’ Is No. 1)
In a new message to his congregation at @newbirthmbc, Pastor @JamalHBryant says it’s not Kanye West’s music or his #SundayService that’s the problem; it’s “the in between the songs” comments on slavery/Donald Trump that’s harmful & he cant “sell out” & support it! #KanyeWestpic.twitter.com/B7Ty7P9nAm
And Lord, the American Bible Society has informed me that over 6,000 Bibles have been given away to Kanye fans!!! According to the society, his album generated more than a million queries on Google alone and prompted fans to search questions such as “What do Christians believe?” And now the American Bible Society will continue to give away free Bibles to Kanye fans through Nov. 22!!! Lord, I’m scratching my head on this one. What am I supposed to do with this? One one hand, he is making controversial statements that hurt the black community and on the other hand, he is reaching the masses for You…
And then as I was cooking this morning, I heard he performed in a prison on Friday and some of the prisoners became believers…(And You know that the average your child, me included, aine really standing in line to volunteer for the Prison Ministry)…I know You know this, but here’s the video anyway…
So…I’ma just end my prayer right here Lord. I’ma let You sort through it all. In summary, help mestay on the narrow way to Heaven because You know I want to wander off from time to time. And Lord, guide all of your children because You created them and know their ways and how they wander off. May we all make it there, some way, some how and some day…
As my father is a passionate advocate for racial reconciliation and we both live in the civil rights capital of the world – metro Atlanta – I have inherited that passion as well. It was the reason that in 2017 I interviewed Latasha Morrison, founder of Be the Bridge, an organization designed to “encourage racial reconciliation among all ethnicities, to promote racial unity in America, and to equip others to do the same.”
Below is an excerpt of my interview with her for the The LOOKOUT:
What inspired you to create Be the Bridge?
Latasha: We all live pretty homogenous lives. We know that 80 percent of people hang with or have friendships with people they go to church with, and if probably less than two percent of our churches in the U.S. are multiethnic or multicultural, who are we hanging out with? I’ve met people who don’t have any friends outside of their own ethnicity. When I moved from Atlanta to Austin a few years ago, it became a burden for me to see the church so racially segregated. Rather than complain about it, I wanted to look at the problem and see what we can do to change it.
Also there was one specific incident that really affected me. I had just seen the movie 12 Years a Slave and that was a story that most people haven’t heard—the slave narrative. Some white people believe slaves were happy living in the South. I had an incident in my church where I was talking to a lady about segregation and desegregation. She basically said you know what Lincoln did to the South was horrible and some of the slaves were treated like family. That was the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard in my life, and it made me angry. This was someone in church who is a seasoned Christian. It was very hurtful, but I understood she was speaking from a place of innocence in a way. She had no idea what she was saying or the injury she was causing me. She had no idea about the atrocities of slavery.
A leading advocate for racial reconciliation offers a clarion call for Christians to move toward relationship and deeper understanding in the midst of a divisive culture.
With racial tensions as high within the church as outside the church, it is time for Christians to become the leaders in the conversation on racial reconciliation.
This power-packed guide helps readers deepen their understanding of historical factors and present realities, equipping them to participate in the ongoing dialogue and to serve as catalysts for righteousness, justice, healing, transformation, and reconciliation.
“Be the Bridge” will be released on Tuesday, but she is offering some great bonuses if you pre-order! And if you would like to read an excerpt, click waterbrookmultnomah.com.
Latasha will be hosting a book release event in Atlanta at Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History on Tuesday! Please see below for all of the details.
And Latasha’s book trailer for “Be the Bridge” is below.
