The National HipHop Political Convention was held in Newark, New Jersey in June, and it came out with a 5-point agenda: Education, Economic Justice, Criminal Justice, Health Care, and Human Rights (plus amendments). The Bay Area Local Organizing Committee (BayLOC) came out of the Convention and planned events here in the Bay. BayLOC called for a demonstration at 12 noon on 11/2 to "Get Hype and Vote." Photos: 1 2 State of Emergency: the SF Bay Hip Hop Summit was held at Laney College in Oakland on October 3rd. Also that weekend, the San Jose Hip Hop Coup held “Beyond the Elements: Reconnecting Hip Hop and Social Change” was held on Saturday, October 2nd at the San Jose State University Union, and continues to organize events in San Jose. Both groups had recommendations for how to vote on propositions on their websites.
The League of Pissed Off Voters, which was founded by writer/graf artist William Upski Wimsatt and others, has done national voter-organizing, with a goal of engaging "pissed off 17-35 year-olds in the democratic process to build a progressive governing majority in our lifetime." The tools that they used were: the book How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office, the website www.indyvoter.org, Progressive Voter Guides, and coalition building through events from brunches to book clubs in your living room, and more, with the building of voter blocs in mind. They have also called for a November 3rd National Day of Truth and Accountability, as part of This Time We're Watching. Search for Local Actions

Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Citizen Change worked with meetup.com to organize young people and youth of color to vote. The two groups joined forces because they felt that joining a group that focused on community organizing along with an online meeting service would be useful. Citizen Change is a national, non-partisan and non-profit organization created to educate, motivate, and empower the more than 42 million "forgotten" Americans aged 18 to 30 who are eligible to vote this fall. Everyday young cultural leaders influence millions of young people to exercise their $890 billion in buying power to purchase the latest fashion, music, cars and bling. Citizen Change used the same kind of marketing, via MTV, ClearChannel, and others, to promote the urgency to vote on Election Day. Citizen Change is known for its "Vote or Die" t-shirts. Notable spokespeople for Citizen Change included Jay-Z, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Ellen DeGeneres, Ashton Kutcher, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige and Drew Barrymore.
Other notable campaigns included Rock the Vote and Rap the Vote. People for the American Way, the Drug Policy Alliance, and ACORN were just some of the organizations involved with Rock the Vote.
The HopHop Summit Action Network is the movement that hip hop mogul Russell Simmons was involved in starting in 2002. HipHop Summits and voter registration events were held all over the country in 2004, including one hosted by Eminem in Detroit. HSAN and America Coming Together joined up for a 1--state Get Out the Vote tour.
DaveyD Reflects: Hip Hop Where Do We Go From Here?