Hip-Hop & Progressive Movement Discussion at IPS

Sheila heard about another event happening at the Institute for Policy Studies where “The Life and Times of James Forman” panel discussion occurred. This time discussions were around “The Hip-Hop Generation and the Progressive Movement” hosted by Jeff Chang. It was an oral history of the untold stories of the roots of hip-hop. The complete story is told in Jeff’s book, “Cant’s Stop, Won’t Stop”. The room was completely full with no space to move.

Jeff spoke about the gangs that formed in the Bronx during the 60s. They were organizers that had formed groups to keep their communities safe. Once competition started in between the gangs, minor conflicts became very violent. Jeff spoke eloquently about gang member, Black Benji who was nicknamed “Peacemaker”. Black Benji wanted peace between the gangs, when requested, he was beaten up and later killed. This tragedy sparked the Black Spades gang to call a Peace Treaty meeting. Members of all gangs were present to converse about their conflicts, at the end of the meeting, they declared peace. Gang wars later became “Style Wars” where gangs would battle each other by utilizing dance, art, poetry, and DJing (also known as the 4 elements of hip-hop). Jeff continued, speaking about the war on Graffiti in the 70s and 80s which lead straight into a one hour question and answer discussion.

The Q&A was very informative about the hip-hop movement. A representative of Industry Ways spoke about how it is not the artists’ choice of which tracks from their record are played on the radio, it is controlled by their record label, the industry. Attendees discussed the lack of control they have on urban radio and the type of music that’s being played for 12 and 13 year olds which mostly promotes sexism, homophobia, greed, violence, etc. This discussion was a perfect segway for Sheila’s question about “sexism in hip-hop and how can we make young boys understand the music they listen to hurts their female friends making them feel like they are only good for sex and money.” Many people had suggestions, one woman in particular pointed out how much hip-hop is dominated by males, critiquing that even people who share the untold stories of hip-hop are usually males that leave out the female perspective and roles. Jeff Chang took that into consideration and responded with telling us about some female gangs that were formed, but left out of most male gang activities including the historic Peace Treaty meeting.

Jeff Chang will be touring all over the country including San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Philadelphia, Providence, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, and maybe even more if Jeff doesn't completely burn out. For more information, visit http://www.cantstopwontstop.com and http://www.ips-dc.org