On Sunday night I posted to this site some thoughts about rappers and how they and their wealth will shape our future. I predicted that Diddy, 50 Cent and Jay-Z will emerge as the next major social-justice-seeking black celebrities, akin to Harry Belafonte and Bill Cosby.

Their accumulation of wealth and their continued growth as parents and world citizens, I argued, is pointing them in the direction of giving back. They will follow Russell Simmons who has transformed himself from party-promoting hustler to prominent philanthropist. That was the idea.

On Tuesday (August 7), Mr. Belafonte responded. But he saw things differently. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he expressed his displeasure with the lack of social activism from Jay-Z, Beyonce and the young crop of entertainers.

THR: Back to the occasion of the award for your acting career. Are you happy with the image of members of minorities in Hollywood today?

Belafonte: Not at all. They have not told the history of our people, nothing of who we are. We are still looking. We are not determinated. We are not driven by some technology that says you can kill Afghans, the Iraqis or the Spanish. It is all — excuse my French — shit. It is sad. And I think one of the great abuses of this modern time is that we should have had such high-profile artists, powerful celebrities. But they have turned their back on social responsibility. That goes for Jay-Z and Beyonce, for example. Give me Bruce Springsteen, and now you’re talking. I really think he is black.

His remarks set off a debate on the internets and beyond. While I don’t totally agree with Mr. Belafonte’s assessment, I do think it is important to open up that discussion. And, If you believe as I do-that with great money and influence comes great responsibility-someone has to challenge the powerful. And who else but an elder like Belafonte can check hip-hop’s First couple?

But elders can use checking as well. Kristen West Savali of News One did a good job of outlining the couple’s activism and philanthropy, here. To be sure, their work is not on par with the social activism of Belafonte and his ilk. But we are in a different time and Jay-Z and Beyonce don’t have the apparatus that once gave direction to well-meaning entertainers. Maintaining that machine was the job of Mr. Belafonte and other civil rights veterans.

In Belafonte’s day, there was the civil rights movement. It was a tangible thing. There was a role to play for everyone, a common enemy and a common cause. Furthermore, there was an agenda set by leaders where entertainers like Belafonte could be easily plugged into the movement.

MUST READ: Belafonte, Cosby, Gates: The Remix

Without the benefit of one major organized machine to deal with the civil rights issues of our day, lots of artists are left to pull together a patchwork of giving. Jay-Z paid for kids to go to school; Beyonce worked with issues surrounding girls. And they have so much room to grow.

Ice Cube went from N.W.A to producing and acting in the cult comedy Friday. And now he makes family-friendly flicks such as Are We There Yet. He’s an example of how a career can evolve. The same can be applied for the growth of an artist’s conscience.

I’m not sure if Mr. Belafonte is jumpstarting the conversation in a loud and aggressive manner, or if he is frustrated to the point of calling names. Either way, he has created a dialogue and turned the eyes onto the giving nature of the celebrated ultra rich entertainers. Perhaps, he could have tempered his message to be more encouraging and less Cosby rant. But if he did that, would we all be talking about the limitless possibilities of entertainment activism?

I think not.