Tef Poe is an American rapper, musician and activist. Poe is one of the co-founders of the Hands Up United movement. Tef Poe has consistently advocated grass-roots involvement in improving the lives of African Americans and in racial justice within and outside the United States. In his art and activism, he insists on the value of local people taking charge of conversations about their own communities rather than relying on national organizations. In an interview, he explained, "And all too often, these conversations are intellectualized and moved completely away from the people who aren't allowed to come into the rooms and intellectualize the different theories surrounding racism. But they did show up in the middle of the street on West Florissant when a militarized police force was encroa