Erykah Badu, Hip-Hop Legend And Spiritual Icon, Can Find The Good In Hitler

Erykah Badu Image by Getty Images
Singer Erykah Badu prides herself of being able to see something good in everyone, even the worst of people.
“I saw something good in Hitler,” she said in a recent interview with Vulture. What exactly was that positive something she found about Adolf Hitler?
“Hitler was a wonderful painter,” Badu added. (She relented this point when pressed by her interviewer.)
Badu explained that she can feel empathy to Hitler because “he had a terrible childhood,” and said she could even imagine that if her daughter was treated poorly growing up “what that could spawn.”
The singer also shares some of her empathy with comedian Bill Cosby who was accused of multiple sexual attacks. “Sick people do evil things; hurt people hurt people,” she said.
While some critics feel Hitler’s art work showed signs of modest talent, none have ever claimed he was a “wonderful painter.”
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
