Thursday, July 31st, 2008

National Hip-Hop Political Convention Opens

Today, the National Hip-Hop Political Convention opens in Las Vegas.

Thousands are expected to attend the Convention, with some coming from as far as Colombia and South Korea yesterday for the opening b-boy battle, that featured a showdown between Las Vegas’s Knucklehead Zoo and the R16 champs, Gamblerz.

They will be discussing issues like the criminalization of youth, youth violence, the right of return on the Gulf Coast, media justice, sexism in hip-hop, economic justice, Black-Brown solidarity, global warming, liberation theology, and vote disenfranchisement. (I’m speaking today at an all-day symposium on the place of hip-hop in academia. alongside folks like Asheru, Byron Hurt, Marc Lamont Hill, and many others.)

Dozens of skills-building trainings around voter registration, lobbying, organizing, media, film making, and even krumping will be held, showing that the organizers draw no distinction between arts and social justice. Some of the best recent underground films on hip-hop–including “African Underground: Democracy in Dakar” and “Masizakhe: Let Us Build Together”–bring a distinctly global view of hip-hop to the event.

On Sunday Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney will give the closing address and the Convention will revise and update their hip-hop political agenda.

Keep your eye here for reports back over the coming days.

posted by Jeff Chang @ 6:01 am | 4 Comments

4 Responses to “National Hip-Hop Political Convention Opens”

Anonymous says:

July 31, 2008 at 7:52 am

So Jeff, you introduced many Hiphop people to Barack. Now you post a lot about Clemente and McKinney. The simple question is, at the end of the day, who will you vote for and why?
Zentronix says:

July 31, 2008 at 8:28 am

Whoever’s better? Haha. No I haven’t decided yet. That’s a good thing, I think, for progressive political journalism, tho it might be a bad thing for you if you’re looking for an answer from me right now. What about you?
Anonymous says:

August 20, 2008 at 5:00 pm

um, how is it bad for ‘progressive political journalism’ to make a decision on something? obviously, a vote for clemente is not a vote for barack. can one endorse both? or is this the journo-weasel equivalent of flip-flopping? why not just vote for mccain, since the mckinney/clemente ticket occupies the nader position in this year’s election?
Zentronix says:

August 20, 2008 at 5:08 pm

there’s 11 weeks and a lot of reporting left to do. question’s back to you.

Feed Me!

Revolutions

DJ Nu-Mark :: Take Me With You
DJ Nu-Mark remixes the diaspora…party ensues!
El General + Various Artists :: Mish B3eed : Khalas Mixtape V. 1
The crew at Enough Gaddafi bring the most important mixtape of 2011–the street songs that launched the Tunisian & Egyptian Revolutions…
J. Period + Black Thought + John Legend :: Wake Up! Radio mixtape
Remixing the classic LP w/towering contributions from Rakim, Q-Tip + Mayda Del Valle
Lyrics Born :: As U Were
Bright production + winning rhymes in LB’s most accessible set ever
Model Minority :: The Model Minority Report
The SoCal Asian American rap scene that produced FM keeps surprising…
Mogwai :: Hardcore Won't Die But You Will
Dare we call it majestic?
Taura Love Presents :: Picki People Volume One
From LA via Paris with T-Love, the global post-Dilla generation goes for theirs…

Word

Cormac McCarthy :: Blood Meridian
Read this now before Hollywood f*#ks it up.
Dave Tompkins :: How To Wreck A Nice Beach
Book of the decade, nuff said.
Joe Flood :: The Fires
The definitive account of why the Bronx burned
Mark Fischer :: Capitalist Realism
K-Punk’s philosophical manifesto reads like his blog, snappy and compelling. Just replace pop music with post-post-Marxism. Pair with Josh Clover’s 1989 for the full hundred.
Nell Irvin Painter :: The History of White People
Well worth a Glenn Beck rant…and everyone’s scholarly attention
Robin D.G. Kelley :: Thelonious Monk : The Life And Times Of An American Original
Monk as he was meant to be written
Tim Wise :: Colorblind
Wise’s call for a color-conscious agenda in an era of “post-racial” politics is timely
Victor Lavalle :: Big Machine
Victor Lavalle does it again!