"Make Hip Hop Not War" National Tour
Members of Congress, Hip Hop Celebrities and tour organizers announce an anti-war tour meant to mobilize young people to action.
Tour hits 15 cities around the U.S. from March 24th to April 24th.
Congressman Grijalva, Congresswoman Lee, and recording artists A Alikes DJ Chela and Hasan Salaam confirmed to speak
Other Members and Artists expected to attend
Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Location: Capitol Hill, Rayburn House Office Building Room 2456
Time: 11:30 AM
The "Make Hip Hop Not War" National Tour will hold events in 15 cities around the country. The tour is designed to galvanize young people on college campuses and in urban communities to call for an immediate end to the war in Iraq . Hip Hop artists, peace activists, Iraq veterans, national leaders and Members of Congress will speak and make appearances at various tour stops.
This tour has emerged as a major moment for the peace movement. The disproportionate impact of war and war spending on communities of color will be a theme of the tour in an attempt to make it a central discussion within the peace movement and among legislators.
"To end this war, we have to bring new energy and new voices to the forefront," said Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., President of the Hip Hop Caucus. "The 'Make Hip Hop Not War' Tour will begin to show the true political power of our Hip Hop communities and of our young people. It is time for young African-American and Latino leaders in this country to establish a stronger, more unified voice in the movement to end the war in Iraq."
The structure of the tour will include rallies, Hip Hop town hall meetings, and community stops at locales such as basketball courts and shopping malls. Each event will sponsor speakers that will educate audiences on the situation in Iraq and anti-war legislation. The tour will connect students and young community organizers with veteran activists, community leaders and representatives from the anti-war struggles of the 20th century and create a new network of young people, primarily from low-income communities and communities of color, to respond to Calls to Action against war and nuclear proliferation.
The tour is being organized by the Hip Hop Caucus, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition.
Tour Schedule:
3/21/2007 Capitol Hill, Washington , DC
(Press Conference)
11:30am
Capitol Hill, Rayburn House Office Building Room 2456
3/24/2007 New York, New York
7:00pm 10:00pm, Doors @ 6:00pm
West-Park Presbyterian Church (165 West 86th St. at Amsterdam Ave.)
3/27/2007 - Greensboro , North Carolina (North Carolina A&T State University)
7:30pm 9:30pm, Doors @ 7:00pm
Barnes Hall Auditorium (North Carolina A&T Campus 1601 East Market St.)
3/29/2007 Orangeburg, South Carolina ( South Carolina State)
7:00pm 9:00pm, Doors @ 6:30pm
Fine Arts Building Auditorium (South Carolina State Campus 300 College St., NE)
4/1/2007 Atlanta, Georgia (Morehouse and Spellman College)
Time and Location TBD
4/4/2007 Memphis, Tennessee ( University of Memphis)
Time and Location TBD
4/7/2007 & 4/8/2007 Crawford, Texas ( Camp Casey)
4/7: Concert @ Camp Casey with Cindy Sheehan
2:00pm 4:00pm
4/8: Easter Ecumenical Service
7:00am 8:00am
4/9/2007 Tucson, Arizona
Time and Location TBD
4/10/2007 Los Angeles, California
Time and Location TBD
4/11/2007 Berkeley, California ( University of California, Berkeley)
12:00pm 2:00pm
Sproul Plaza ( University of California Campus, 2200 University Ave. )
4/14/2007 Cedar Falls, Iowa (Northern Iowa University)
An all day event in conjunction with the Step It Up! National Day of Action
1:00pm 8:00pm
Overman Park ( 2nd St. at Franklin St .)
4/17/2007 Chicago, Illinois
Time and Location TBD
4/18/2007 South Bend, Indiana ( University of Notre Dame)
7:00pm 9:00pm, Doors @ 6:30pm
Washington Hall (University of Notre Dame Campus)
4/20/2007 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
7:00pm 10:00pm, Doors @ 6:00pm
Monumental Baptist Church (2240 Wylie Ave.)
4/21/2007 Boston, Massachusetts
Time and Location TBD
4/24/2007 Baltimore, Maryland
Time and Location TBD
Featured Artists on the tour:
Papoose
Killer Mike
A Alikes
Akir
Hasan Salaam
Son of Nun
Bedouin
DJ Chela
Will B
Head-Roc
La Paz
Myself
ReadNex Poetry Squad
and others
Featured Speakers on the tour:
Elaine Johnson, mother of Army Spc. Darius Jennings, 22 years old, who was killed in Iraq on November 2, 2003 when the Chinook helicopter he was aboard was shot down by Iraqi insurgents
Carlos Arrendondo , father of Marine Lance Corporal Alexander Arrendondo, 20 years old, who was killed in An Najaf , Iraq
during his second tour of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom on August 25, 2004 .
Cindy Sheehan, established Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas and mother of Spc. Casey Sheehan who was killed in Iraq.
Tina Richards, mother of Corporal Cloy Richards, United States Marine Corps, who has served two tours in Iraq .
Rosa Clemente, a national leader and activist in the Hip Hop community.
Jim Hightower, national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and Iraq war critic.
Malia Lazu, a national leader and activist in the Hip Hop community.
Nicole Lee, Executive Director of TransAfrica Forum and a member of the Hip Hop generation.
Sun sara Taylor, representing the World Can't Wait
Steve Cobble, an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, who focuses on antiwar work and voting rights issues.
Phyllis Bennis , a writer, analyst and activist on Middle East and UN issues and a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.
Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., President of the Hip Hop Caucus, as MC
Participating Members of Congress:
Congressman Raϊl Grijalva
Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair
Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Out of Iraq Caucus Chair
Congressman Steve Cohen
Congressman John Lewis
For more information contact, Liz Havstad, liz@hiphopcaucus.org or 202.787.5256/510.206.6749 cell
Liz Havstad
Chief of Staff, Hip Hop Caucus
1112 16th St. NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
202.787.5256 office
510.206.6749 cell
202.387.7915 fax
www.hiphopcaucus.org
http://www.myspace.com/makehiphopnotwar
posted by Clyde at 3:42 PM
Black Online Activists Call on Black Leaders to Reject Fox for Presidential Debates
Message to CBC Institute: "Fox consistently marginalizes Black leaders, culture, and institutions ... Validating Fox as a legitimate source of news hurts Black America."
ColorOfChange.org & Black bloggers launch national letter campaign to Congressional Black Caucus Institute; YouTube video details Fox's record of attacking Blacks
WASHINGTON, March 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ColorOfChange.org -- an online citizens' lobby of 70,000 members dedicated to advocating for the interests of Black Americans -- launched a national letter writing campaign today calling on the Congressional Black Caucus Institute to reject Fox as partner for their presidential debates.
"Fox News is not a 'fair and balanced' source of information or political debate, and it has repeatedly proven itself hostile to the interests of Black Americans," says a letter online activists can sign on the group's website, http://www.colorofchange.org/. "Fox on-air personalities and regular guests consistently marginalize Black leaders, culture, and institutions."
Last week, the American Prospect quoted the CBC Institute as saying a decision will be made within days about whether Fox or CNN would host the organization's 2008 presidential debates. ColorofChange.org asked Outfoxed director Robert Greenwald to compile an online video detailing Fox's record of attacking Blacks-which debuted today at Brave New Films' website, http://www.foxattacks.com/.
"No network that calls Black churches a cult, implies that Senator Barack Obama is a terrorist, and uses the solemn occasion of Coretta Scott King's funeral to call Black leaders 'racist' should be given a stamp of approval by the CBC Institute," said James Rucker, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org. "Validating Fox as a legitimate source of news hurts Black America."
Black bloggers and media experts also joined the call for the CBC Institute to freeze out Fox from presidential debates. One of those experts is Benjamin Todd Jealous, former executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Associations (NNPA), a 98-year old federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers.
"Fox has a long history of treating Black people unfairly," said Jealous, "They are not a trusted news source for most Black Americans." Chris Rabb, Founder/Chief Evangelist of Afro-Netizen.com -- a top African American political blog -- added, "We urge the CBC Institute to lead with integrity and to not make a deal with the devil."
Key Links
Politico.com: Anti-Fox Campaign, African-American Edition politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0307/
AntiFox_Campaign_AfricanAmerican_Edition.html
CBC says it is choosing between Fox and CNN -- American Prospect, March 8, 2007 http://www.prospect.org/weblog/2007/03/post_3051.html#015806
ColorOfChange.org's email action alert to 70,000 members:
http://www.colorofchange.org/cbci/message.html
Letter from activists to CBC Institute
http://www.colorofchange.org/cbci/
Afro-Netizen.net blog asks Black Americans to contact CBC Institute:
http://www.afro-netizen.com/2007/03/make_our_cbc_me.html
YouTube video -- Fox Attacks: Black America
http://www.foxattacks.com/
To embed video on your site, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY04gIruZ4E
Here's a sampling of the kind of offensive messages put out on Fox:
-- Commenting on Hannity & Colmes about the speakers at Coretta Scott
King's funeral, featured guest Mary Matalin said, "I think these civil
rights leaders are nothing more than racists" who are keeping "their
African-American brothers enslaved."
-- Jesse Lee Peterson, a regular guest who is Black said: "Kwanzaa is a
racist, pagan, Marxist holiday" and then claimed that the "so-called
seven principles of Kwanzaa are socialist, Marxist, separatist
ideas... if a white man started a white holiday, seven-day white
holiday, black folks would be burning down America."
-- Erik Rush, another Black guest, labeled Sen. Obama's church as cultish
and separatist for espousing values of black unity and black
empowerment (Fox regularly selects Black guests it knows will
undermine Black causes). Rush said he replaced the word "black" with
"white" in the church's mission statement and "Suddenly, I was looking
at this really scary doctrine. You know, it was something that you'd
see in more like a cult or an Aryan Brethren church ... I would go
beyond saying they're Afrocentric. They're African centric. They refer
to themselves as an African people and that somewhat disturbs me from
the viewpoint of well, do they consider themselves Americans? Do they
consider themselves Christians?"
-- On Hannity and Colmes, David Horowitz said: "The only lynch mob in
America that is allowed to exist in America is a black lynch mob."
Website: http://www.ColorOfChange.org
http://www.FoxAttacks.com
Source: ColorOfChange.org
CONTACT: Trevor FitzGibbon or Alex Howe, +1-202-822-5200, both for
ColorOfChange.org
posted by Clyde at 1:23 PM
Female Poets & Emcees Sound Off in Atlanta for Women's History Month
NEW YORK - On Friday, March 23, 2007 at Charis Books & More, New York-based poet, performance artist, author and publisher, DuEwa M. Frazier, comes to Atlanta to present her latest publication, Check the Rhyme: An Anthology of Female Poets & Emcees. The anthology which was recently nominated for the prestigious NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work - Poetry, is a cross-generational compilation featuring the poetry of fifty women poets and eighteen chapters. Frazier who is the editor of Check the Rhyme Anthology and CEO/Founder of Lit Noire Publishing states, "Check the Rhyme was published to promote the writings of this new generation of women poets, lyricists and spoken word artists, and to inspire our female youth to write."
Already a top seller online and in bookstores, Check the Rhyme Anthology captures the essence of what people in our society today are feeling and thinking about. Whether the topic is hip hop culture, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, relationships, performance art or politics, the book covers many themes as it presents the perspective of women from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Lit Noire Publishing was founded in 2002 by DuEwa M. Frazier, a poet who began performing on the NYC poetry scene in 1999. Since then, Frazier has traveled all over the U.S. sharing her inspirational poetry, as she is also the author and publisher of two favorably reviewed volumes of poetry: Shedding Light From My Journeys and Stardust Tracks on a Road.
Lit Noire Publishing will host the Atlanta poetry and signing event for Check the Rhyme Anthology, in honor of Women's History Month, at Charis Books & More on Friday March 23, 2007 at 8pm. The event will feature DuEwa M. Frazier, Queen Sheba, Letitia D. Ford and Tamara Madison. The poets will perform and discuss on themes within the anthology and will sign copies of Check the Rhyme after the performances. This event is free and open to the public. Charis Books & More is located at 1189 Euclid Avenue Atlanta, GA 30307. For more information contact Charis Books & More at 404-524-0304 or chariscirclemarketing@gmail.com.
CONTACT:
The Frazier Agency
(800) 796-4369
frazier_prmedia@litnoirepublishing.com
posted by Clyde at 1:53 PM
Hip Hop Congress Announces 2007 National Conference
July 4th-8th in Athens, OH at the Ohio University
(Dateline) - Hip Hop Congress will be holding its 6th annual conference in Athens, OH from July 4th to July 8th. Hip Hop Congress is a 501c3 Non-Profit organization and international grassroots network whose mission is to unite, educate, and empower individuals. We utilize Hip Hop to inspire civic action and cultural creativity within the community. Hip Hop Congress has over 35 chapters throughout the country and works with artists, organizers, promoters and a host of other institutions and organizations. Hip Hop Congress is involved in education, culture, politics, social justice and industry.
This years national conference, co sponsored with our partners Unite Here, SPAN, and H2A, will continue to develop a national service infrastructure for HHC with a variety of other national organizations, student groups, artists and partners. This means working with more students, more artists and more communities. Workshops will include not only intensive sessions on the initial four elements of hip hop but also interactive discussions on Health Care, International Hip Hop, Hip Hop and Education, Women in Hip Hop, Event Planning, the Recording Industry, Youth Violence and much more. In addition, each night there will be showcase featuring independent acts. Performers that have participated in Hip Hop Congress events in previous years are Ghostface, Brother Ali, Zion I, Percee P, Living Legends, Jurassic 5, Tha Jacka, DJ Crucial, Common Market, and All Natural Inc.
We are extending an open invitation to our peers in Hip Hop activism, such as The Zulu Nation, The Temple of Hip Hop, Hip Hop Caucus, Mississippi Artists and Producers Coalition, Hip Hop Action Summit Network, to join us in Athens . We also want to encourage and invite not only artists, organizers and friends of the organization from all over the country but also anyone with a desire to push hip hop, education, and society forward. With such an explosive year on the national and international front, this years conference plans to be a charged event with ripples that will be felt throughout the country.
Registration and officially schedule for this conference will be announced in the coming weeks. If you are interested in participating in workshops, performances, as a sponsor or supporter, please contact PR Chair Aaron Berkowitz at 314-809-2502 or email Berkowitz@hiphopcongress.com .
-Aaron Berkowitz - Hip Hop Congress - www.hiphopcongress.com - 314-809-2502
posted by Clyde at 1:52 PM 
Sunday, March 25, 2007
