Politics Galore: Hip Hop Steps Up

POLITICS GALORE: HIP HOP STEPS UP
by Davey D

Lots of folks on the Hip Hop front have been stepping up their
political game, so to speak. This was proven beyond a shadow of a
doubt yesterday [7/24/01] in the city of Oakland. More then 200 headz
from a number of Bay Area Hip Hop organizations including Youth Force
Coalition, Books Not Bars, and Let\'s Get Free, as well as a number of
local recording artists, showed up to a hastily called emergency
meeting put together by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Many
of the people who came through took a day off from their summer jobs
to voice their opposition. The issue was Alameda County\'s attempt to
build what is being described as a super prison for youth. This
facility would be the largest one of its kind in the entire country.
It would be larger and cost more money per capita the juvenile
facilities housed in New York, Chicago and other big cities. This
super prison for kids would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of half
a billion dollars to build and maintain. The Hip Hop community showed
in force at the Supervisor\'s meeting, wanting to know why some of that
money couldn\'t be put towards programs that would help direct kids
away from jails. One person suggested that the money could be put
towards a super counseling center for kids, so they could get help
with their problems. Someone else suggested that the money be put
toward job training programs and support services.

Three of the five Alameda County supervisors who support this new
prison pointed to decaying conditions inside the 50 year old juvenile
hall facility in the city of San Leandro which sits right outside
Oakland. They also noted that the current site sits on an earthquake
fault line. Hence their solution is to move the hall 50 miles away in
rural suburban area called Dublin and turn it into a state of the art
super prison for kids. It should also be noted that one of the
supporting supervisors pointed out that this new and improved facility
would have no provisions or resources to enhance and encourage
rehabilitation.

During the yesterday\'s meetings, one of the organizers, Van Jones,
spoke passionately to the county supervisors. He encouraged them to
do what they ask young people to do, which is to stand up to peer
pressure and not do the wrong thing just because someone throws money
in front of them. He told the supervisors to stand up to the pressure
of the powerful prison lobby. He also reminded them that just because
the county received a ton of money to build this super prison, did not
mean they had to go through with building it. The packed chambers
enthusiastically cheered. He also took the supervisors to task for
holding a meeting at the last minute so as to avoid public input
around this project.

Another speaker, was a young West Oakland cat named YT, He explained
how bad things were in his high school [McClymonds High, where MC
Hammer went to school]. He wanted to know how come the county could
find millions of dollars for a super prison for his classmates but
could not find money to fix up his school. He pointed out that the
bad conditions in his school hadn\'t changed since his older cousins
and uncles attended. His words were sobering.

Perhaps the meeting\'s most shining moment came when Los of the rap
group Company of Prophets spoke. He was still fuming at the bad
treatment he and others had received prior to the meeting. When headz
showed up early that morning, they were greeted by baton weilding
sheriffs who attempted to intimidate them. Initially they were told
they could not come to the meeting because there were too many people.
They became incensed when they saw older white people and business
people being allowed to cut the line and go through unbothered. Some
of the youth who were vocal about their desire to attend, found
themselves being pushed and shoved by the sheriffs. The officers were
forced to stop when the media showed up with cameras and tape
recorders. One of the deputies actually tried to lay hands on me,
until one of his colleagues who recognized me, let him know I was on
the radio. At that point, I was then treated with respect and told I
could go through some private entrance. Only when the news cameras
were shining on the officers and a couple of lawyers spoke out did the
deputies allow the large group to go in. It was from this upsetting
experience that Los drew upon when he spoke. His words reflected the
simmering anger many people were present felt from being mistreated.
He started off by asking which officer in the room was willing to pull
out his bullyclub and start acting bad with all the people in the room
watching. No one moved. Los then kicked a dope freestyle about
police brutality and prisons. All the time he was rapping, he kept
staring at the deputy who had tried to swing on him earlier. It was
amazing to hear a freestyle being kicked at a county supervising
meeting... the supervisors sure seemed surprised.

Unfortunately, three of the supervisors, Scott Haggerty, Alice
Lai-Bitker and Gail Steele did not embrace a proposal that was
introduced by their colleague, supervisor Keith Carson and supported
by Nate Miley. Carson kicked off the meeting by introducing a
proposal that basically called for everyone to slow down and for the
county not to rush into building the new prison. He wanted an
independent study to determine if such a large juvenile facility was
needed. Many of the Hip Hop organizations were willing to support
Carson\'s proposal. They felt it would be a great place to start a
dialogue and would allow a process for those who would be most
impacted by this to offer some input. When Carson\'s fellow
supervisors rejected the proposal in the face of all that proposition,
folks got heated. Headz were not trying to hear all that and let
their disappointment be heard loud and clear. People began chanting
\'Books Not Bars\' as many of the Hip Hoppers staged a sit-in right
there inside the council chambers. It was at that point sheriff
deputies got brutal.

On the footage we got, you see over-aggressive police manhandling
cats. Headz were being thrown to the ground and handcuffs being
applied so tightly that one guy\'s hands turned blue. All in all, nine
people got arrested. It was sad to see some of the supervisors go for
the money and not the kids. A solemn promise was made publicly by
protestors that those supervisors who voted for the building of the
prison would not have a job next election, and that their cowardly
actions would be exposed far and wide. One of the first courses of
action that will be taken is a huge Hip Hop Rally and Concert in front
of Oakland\'s City Hall [14th & broadway] this Saturday July 28th.
Called the Summer Jam to End the Prison Scam, more than a dozen local
Hip Hop groups ranging from Company of Prophets to Aya de Leon have
agreed to come and perform. Even Mad Lion, who has a show the night
before, has been contacted and is trying to see if this event will fit
in his schedule. Dozens of organizations will be out in force passing
out information and making sure folks are aware of the madness that\'s
going on with the county supervisors. Folks are absolutely determined
to do everything within their power to not have this superprison
built....For more info call Rachel Jackson at (415) 951-4844 x28, Fela
Thomas Youth Force Coalition: (510) 451-5466 x301 or Van Jones Ella
Baker Center for Human Rights, (415) 951-4844x25.

One a side note...As young person after young person spoke, I kept
wondering where were all those people who show up at conventions and
seminars complaining about the Hip Hop community being apathetic.
Perhaps they were waiting to read about this huge turnout in their
local newspapers. The sad thing was, even though the Oakland Tribune
is literally blocks away from the County office, the paper didn\'t
cover this [at least in their online editions]. Even though nine
people were arrested in the council chambers, one would not know this
from reading the local paper...hmm. Why wasn\'t it covered? It\'s four
am as I\'m writing this piece so I can\'t call anyone to find out. At
first, I thought the Oakland Tribune wasn\'t there, but I noticed
stories about the contentious redistricting meeting that followed
right after the arrests. There was no way they couldn\'t have known
about the vocal opposition to the building of this super prison. Even
some of the local TV stations covered the event.

What was interesting to note, while political actions taken by the Hip
Hop community were ignored, what the Oakland Tribune did cover was the
ransacking of a 7-11 store over the weekend after a party. So while
200 headz showing up at a county supervisor meeting in the middle of a
hot summer day gets no newspaper coverage, an incident that involved a
handful of people that took place three days ago is sitting there for
all to read. Thank God I have a radio show and this newsletter to
help get the word out. I make mention of this because, it\'s important
that folks understand how lack of coverage has a snowball effect.
Many TV news shows and talk radio shows get their ideas from the local
papers. The opportunity to get such an important issue out to the
masses for public discourse is lost. Even the opportunity to change
the false perception that many have about Hip Hop and young people in
general is omitted from the equation. Its likely that some TV
newscast or radio talk show will pick up the Tribune read about a 7-11
being looted and they will in turn do a show about how bad youth are.
They\'ll never know that 200 Hip Hoppers spoke out at a supervisor\'s
meeting.

In closing, I will add that the building of this super prison for
youth is the continuation of a disturbing trend here in the Golden
State. It is one where many elected officials are addicted to the
financial incentives and political strength derived from punishing and
scapegoating youth. California is ranked # 41 in money spent on
education and ranked # 1 in money spent on prisons. All this is
happening at a time when youth crimes in Cali as well as across the
country are at all-time lows. Please believe it folks... prisons are
big business in Cali, and those who are controlling the purse strings
seem to have their eyes on the large number of black and brown youth
who now make up the majority of the state\'s population. What took
place yesterday afternoon at the Alameda County Supervisors\' meeting
falls in line with all the other Draconian measures being passed by
some of these politicians.

Over the past five years, Cali has been hit the passage of the
infamous Prop 21 bill, which would lock up 14-year-olds in adult
prisons and give the police all sorts of extraordinary wire tapping
and surveillance powers for suspected gang members. The bill also
allows law enforcement to use their discretion to classify three or
more people standing around, dressed in similar clothing, as a gang.
Anyone convicted as a gang member under all the sweeping new laws
included in Prop 21 would have to register like a sex offender.
Failure to register would result in automatic 18 months in jail. This
bill came at the heels of the three strikes law. Shortly after Prop
21 passed, Cali residents were hit with another blow when Democratic
Governor Gray Davis refused to sign a bill that would force the police
to collect racial data, which is needed to end unfair police profiling
and the phenomenon known as \'driving while black or brown\' -- the very
real risk of being pulled over by the cops because of your race. If
that\'s not enough, another infamous Cali resident, Ward Connerly,
(known for leading the charge to end affirmative action with the
passage of Prop 209) is trying to put a proposition on the ballot that
would forbid any state agency from collecting racial data. He says he
wants a colorblind society. However, should it pass, it would be
virtually impossible to prove racial discrimination because collecting
racial data would be forbidden. The onslaught has been relentless.
But at each turn, these measures have been met with stiff opposition,
especially in Alameda County. The latest situation will not dampen
anyone\'s spirits. If anything, I think it will increase everyone\'s
resolve. Mark my words, those who voted for this superprison will pay
a political price for their greed and folly.

Major props are in order to Run DMC. While Hip Hoppers in Oakland are
fighting against prison building, Rev Run, DMC and Jam Master J are
over in London trying to help end racial violence. Over the past few
months there have been some serious racial clashes between whites and
south Asians. An anti-racism concert called Respect 2001 was the
outgrowth of the troubles. Run DMC have been asked to headline what
will be a free event. Many of the city\'s elected officials will be on
hand.

Rev Run\'s older brother Russell Simmons is taking his political
activities a step higher. As promised during the recent Hip Hop
Summit, A Hip Hop Political Action Committee has been formed. Called
the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, the organization will be
headquartered within the offices of The Source Magazine in New York
City. There will be field offices in Washington DC and in Los
Angeles. The board members will include Minister Benjamin (Chavis)
Muhammad, who will serve as executive director. Other members
include, Reverend Al Sharpton, Sean P-Diddy Combs, Source Magazine
owner Dave Mays, and labels heads Kevin Lyles [Def Jam], Kedar
Massenburg [Motown], Steve Rifkind [Loud], Steve Stoute [Interscope].

This new political action committee will no doubt attempt to fill a
void and bridge a gap that currently exists between the traditional
Civil Rights organizations and the Hip Hop community these labels
reach. The HHSAN will be lobbying politicians on various issues and
will donate money to their campaigns. They will also host a panel
discussion this September during the Black Congressional Caucus Week
in Washington DC. While the forming of this Political Action
Committee is good, it\'s interesting to note that the board members are
mostly record label owners. Hopefully the committee is expanded to
included artists who are on these labels and their unique interests
and perspectives will be voiced and reflected within the advocacy work
of the HHSAN. In any case, for those who have been sitting on the
side of the road trying to avoid politics, be ready...cause things are
gonna heat up.

=================================

Send comments, questions and concerns to
mailto:kingdave [at] sirius.com
The FNV Newsletter
written by Davey D
http://www.daveyd.com
http://www.rapstation.com
c 2001 All Rights Reserved