Hip Hop Congress

Hip-Hop Congress’ beat, lyrics focus on Bobcat pride (Texas St)

A Texas Statement

Hip-Hop Congress’ beat, lyrics focus on Bobcat pride
By Jessica Sinn
Texas State News Service
Original Article Found Here
San Marcos — Cheerleaders and mascots are not the only school spirit icons at Texas State University-San Marcos. Some home game tailgate parties wouldn’t be complete without Hip-Hop Congress’s freestyle beats and lyrical flows – chock full of Bobcat pride.

Hip-Hop Congress, a university organization, recently released its first Texas State themed mix-tape “A Texas Statement.” Julius Garcia, a freshman studying communication studies at Texas State, said this is the first time the university sponsored an album as a recruitment tool for Hip-Hop Congress.

Garcia, an Austin native, said the 19-track album, available on the music Web site purevolume.com, is steadily attracting a worldwide fan-base.

“An insane amount of people are downloading and listening,” Garcia said. “We’re getting calls from people who are asking us to do shows in New York, and we have fans from all over the world, including Japan, Australia and France.”

Garcia, Hip Hop Congress recruiting chair, manages the Web site’s downloading account. He said “Holding it Down at Texas State” is the No. 1 most downloaded track.

“If you go to Texas State, if you live around Texas State or if you know someone from Texas State, the song gives you pride,” Garcia said.

Hip-Hop Congress recently hosted a “Texas Statement” release party at Lucy’s in San Marcos. Garcia said the deejay’s intricate mixture of electric drums and base generated an energetic response from the audience.

“DJ Phil Da Funk, really knows what he’s doing,” Garcia said. “He plays what the crowd wants to hear and adds his own style and flare to the music.”

With upbeat lyrics like “The rising star of Texas, that’s who we are,” and “You may be a student once, but you’re a Bobcat for life,” the compilation is geared toward promoting Texas State and academic success.

“The album is completely clean,” Garcia said. “There are no harsh lyrics, no innuendos, there’s nothing on the album that could offend anyone. It’s acceptable for all ages and it sends a positive message for everyone.”

Garcia said he focuses on changing materialistic Hip-Hop lyrics back to an outlet of genuine expression. He said he scripted his song “Bounce Back,” with positive, heartfelt lyrics.

“’Bounce Back’ is about getting knocked down when life is hard, but you bounce back up and keep fighting,” Garcia said. “It’s just a positive message, and the more you listen to a song, the more you hear the positive message. It’s not just about the beat, snare and the drums; it’s about the content and the message.”

Garcia said Hip-Hop Congress works toward diminishing negative stereotypes that seem to stigmatize the rap and hip-hop genre. He said Hip-Hop Congress uses its innovative sounds to promote education, and to improve the community through projects like Bobcat Build and special fundraisers.

“We’re kind of like an ‘edutainment’ DARE program,” Garcia said. “We’re not just entertainers, we’re educators.”

Sherri Benn, Texas State’s assistant vice president for Student Affairs and the director of Multicultural Student Affairs, said Hip-Hop Congress strives to help people understand the deeper, more complex culture of hip-hop.

“I wouldn’t say that we are trying to ‘vanquish the gangster stereotype’ because we simply see ‘gangsta’ rap as one sub-culture or genre within the larger hip-hop culture,” Benn said. “’Gangsta’ rap is not the defining representation of hip hop, though it’s often mistaken for being so.”

Benn, who is the chapter advisor, said Hip-Hop Congress’s goal is to positively impact the university, as well as its surrounding communities.

“The feedback we’ve received from those who have heard various tracks from the mix-tape, from high school and Texas State students, has been outstanding,” Benn said. “That’s exciting to us.”

Benn said the compilation enables the university to showcase creative talents of its students through a medium that speaks the language of this generation. With the mix-tape, she said Hip-Hop Congress can engage students, alumni and parents in a positive and culturally relevant way.

“Since the mission of the Texas State chapter of Hip-Hop Congress is to unite cultures through the art of hip-hop by encouraging creativity, expression and social activism, our goal with the mix-tape is to use one element of hip-hop culture to promote Texas State, help facilitate school spirit and pride in our institution, as well as give something back to our communities – both on and off campus,” Benn said.

For more information about Hip-Hop Congress, call the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs at 245-2278 or visit www.msa.txstate.edu.

Hip-Hop @ the Alehouse ’07 has been cancelled but we need the Hip-Hop (Berkeley)

Hip-Hop @ the Alehouse ’07 has been cancelled but we need the Hip-Hop
community’s support. PLEASE READ ON….

Update….Thanks for all the support out there. Our girl Ariana from the
Mayor’s office is on top of the issue.

After the Berkeley Police found out this was a Hip-Hop event we were on a
path of being shut down.

First, we needed permission from the police department for the license for
non-profit to serve beer. That is right ALL beer sales were going to a
non-profit. You can only apply 10 days before the event. This is where we
hit a brick wall. We talk to LT. Dennis Ahern ( 510.773.7664) a number of
times to inform him of the positive motives we had. We ensured him this
event was to be a place where people from the Hip-Hop community, 21 and up
united in a very positive manner. In the end he denied us. His first
reason was an under staffed department. We offered more security. Then, it
was told to us that it didn’t matter how many security guards we had they
wouldn’t approve “this type” of event.

Then, we were making arrangements to continue with the event without the
non-profit beer sales. This would mean that beer would be served inside
and none outside. This was not a big issue but it did hurt our vision of
helping the community.

Then, Pyramid received calls from multiple “off duty” police officers who
made suggestions that our noise permit will be revoked and that they would
not recommend going forward with “this type” of event. Baffled, Jeffery
(the GM from Pyramid), asked why this would be the case since he had rock
event and what not with no problems at this location before. He was told
that they don’t want “this type” of event in the city.

All of us made a decision to cancel the event not because we wanted to
give in to this strong arm tactics but because we did not want to have an
event that people spent money on knowing that there is a 90% chance it was
going to be shut down. We are all on losing money but we feel it is better
to be ethical than having this event with the knowledge it will be shut
down.

We are more than disappointed; we are horrified that this is taken place
in a wonderful city like Berkeley. I am reaching out to all of you, The
Hip-Hop Community; we can’t stand still while this happens. We had nothing
but positive aspirations for this event and were pushed down. The Hip-Hop
community needs to stand up by writing and calling to whoever will listen.
This is discrimination flat out.

Please write and call the Mayor’s office to inform him of the
discrimination happening in the city of Berkeley.

Mayor’s Office
2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704
TEL: (510) 981-7100, FAX: (510) 981-7199, TDD: (510) 981-6903
Office Hours: Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Email: mayor@ci.berkeley.ca.us

If you want copy and paste the email below and send it to
mayor@ci.berkeley.ca.us:

Dear Honorable Mayor Bates,
Please be aware of the discrimination happening in the city of Berkeley. A
positive event was going to take place on Saturday the 29th at Pyramid
Brewery. This event featured Hip-Hop artists. This event has been
cancelled due to police suggestions that this event will be shut down and
that they do not want “this type” of event in their city. I encourage your
office to look further into the matter.

Thank you,

A Call to Action from Artist/ Activist Mos Def To Students and All Concerned Young People to Show Support for the “Jena 6″ on

A Call to Action from Artist/ Activist Mos Def To Students and All Concerned Young People to Show Support for the “Jena 6″ on
Monday, October 1st, 2007 at Noon, Central Time

Artist/ Activist Mos Def along with M1, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Change the Game, the National Hip Hop Political Convention, and student leaders from 25 campuses is calling for a National Student Walk-Out to rally and show support for the Jena 6, who are being denied their human rights by the Louisiana criminal justice system.

The Case of the Jena 6
Last fall, when two Black high school students sat under the “white” tree on their campus, white students responded by hanging nooses from the tree. When Black students protested the light punishment for the students who hung the nooses, District Attorney Reed Walters came to the school and told the students he could “take [their] lives away with a stroke of [his] pen.” Racial tension continued to mount in Jena, and the District Attorney did nothing in response to several egregious cases of violence and threats against black students. But when a white student–who had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses, taunted a black student, called several black students “nigger”–sustained minor injuries from a school fight, six black students were charged with second-degree attempted murder. Last month, the first young man to be tried, Mychal Bell, was convicted. He faces up to 22 years in prison for a school fight. Although his conviction has been thrown out in adult court, he is still in jail!!

Mos Def is asking students worldwide to assist in the fight against racial inequality and show solidarity for these young people, who have been treated very harshly by the law. The prosecution of these young men symbolizes a terrible miscarriage of justice, by punishing students who opposed segregation in their schools and disregarding the threatening acts of others who advocate it.

Judge J.P. Mauffray and District Attorney Reed Walters have engaged in a string of egregious actions, the most recent of which was the denial of bail for Bell on Friday. We call for:

1. All charges against the Jena 6 be dropped
2. The immediate release of Mychal Bell
3. The United States Department of Justice to convene an immediate inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the arrests and prosecutions of the Jena 6;
4. Judge Mauffray to be recused from presiding over Bell’s juvenile court hearings or other proceedings;
5. The Louisiana Office of Disciplinary Counsel to investigate Reed Walters for unethical and possibly illegal conduct;
6. The Louisiana Judiciary Commission investigate Judge Mauffray for unethical conduct; and
7. The Jena School District superintendent to be removed from office.

Mos Def — “I continue to extend my invitation to all concerned parties, artists, and people of power and influence in the world today throughout every field of endeavor to unite in resistance against racism and state negligence in the face of terror in the neo-Katrina State of Louisiana.”

For more info contact info@mxgm.org

www.mxgm.org
www.freethejena6.org

Sherri Benn Uses Hip-Hop to Reach Texas State Students and Area Youth (Texas St)

Rising Stars

Sherri Benn Uses Hip-Hop to Reach Texas State Students and Area Youth

Antonio Banos Photo

Wanted: major hip-hop heads, grinders and hustlers. That’s what the classified ad might have read if Dr. Sherri Benn had placed one in 2004 when searching for Texas State University-San Marcos students to start an innovative new student organization called Hip-Hop Congress (HHC).

Benn, Texas State’s assistant vice president for Student Affairs and the director of Multicultural Student Affairs, recognized that hip-hop, which she calls “one of the common discourses of this generation” was absent from the university’s multicultural programs and activities.

“I don’t think it takes any kind of genius to recognize the power and influence of a phenomenon that has been steadily gaining momentum in terms of its cross-cultural mass appeal,” she says. We just needed to acknowledge it, embrace it and put it out there.”

So she sought students to bring hip-hop to Texas State. “The main criteria was that they had to be major hip-hop heads, grinders and hustlers when it came to hip-hop and their willingness to do whatever was necessary to create a buzz and then work it into something real,” says Benn.

She found those qualities in Ray Cordero, Ernst Bernard, Jeffery Plummer, Dustin Ray and Vince Milson. These five dedicated students, along with Benn, became the foundation for Texas State’s HHC chapter, an organization that uses “edutainment,” a blend of education and entertainment, to reach out to the community and spread its positive messages.
Hip-Hop Congress
Texas State’s HHC is one of more than 30 chapters of a national nonprofit organization that uses hip-hop to inspire young people to get involved through social action, civic engagement and cultural creativity. Hip-hop is most often associated with rap music, but it is a culture based on four elements: dance (break-dancing), art (graffiti), poetry (rapping) and music (DJ).

The HHC chapter at Texas State was the first one in the southern United States. It has 30 active members and about 80 on its roster. Although hip-hop began as the artistic expression of mostly black, inner-city youth, members of HHC represent a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Joining is easy. Students attend a meeting, share why they love hip-hop in front of the group, pay their dues and join a committee.

In just a few years, HHC has become one of Texas State’s best-known organizations. “Hip-Hop Congress is one of the most diverse organizations on campus,” Benn says. “It spreads a positive message through a sometimes controversial medium, and that gets people’s attention.”

In 2005, HHC was voted Texas State’s Organization of the Year as well as Multicultural Organization of the Year. In 2006, the Black Student Alliance named HHC the Outstanding Community Service Organization at Texas State. And in 2006 and 2007, the Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education recognized the group with Outstanding Conference Presentation awards.

Outreach Programs
HHC helps Texas State attract a diverse group of students by performing at university events, and it makes the campus a place where students from all backgrounds feel welcome. The group’s high-energy presentation always gets rave reviews from the incoming freshmen who experience it during Paws Preview, an orientation event.

For an event called Hip-Hop TRiO Exchange, the group invites 150 high school students to the Texas State campus for a daylong conference. “We educate students on college preparation, filling out financial aid applications, the college admissions process, effective study habits, how to be a good leader and much more,” says Ray Cordero, HHC founding member and advisor. “As a first generation college student, I understand that many high school students, minorities in particular, sometimes don’t go to college because they are unfamiliar with the enrollment process or think they will never fit in. This program opens their eyes and motivates them to seriously consider enrollment in a four-year university. Many of the kids we have met in TRiO have enrolled here at Texas State.”

Other HHC programs called Congress Kidz, WORD UP and CREAM reach out to elementary students. Congress members edutain the children with skits, songs and other presentations. They send the message that bullying is bad, having a positive self-image is good, saying no to peer pressure is OK, and pursuing higher education is important.
Benn’s Role
In her role as advisor to HHC, Benn, who holds a doctorate in higher education administration, serves as a liaison with university administration and the community. She also provides leadership to group members through coaching and guidance. Benn helps them plan and think through the logistics of their events.

The group’s careful planning is one of the reasons behind its success. “We try to know our target market,” Cordero says. “When we plan events, we meet for hours and discuss who we are trying to market to and how we can appeal to them. Eventually we formulate our event around those brainstorming sessions. We are much more than an student organization; we have essentially become an advertising and promotion firm, in a manner of speaking.”

While Benn oversees HHC’s event planning, she gives credit for the group’s creativity to the students. “I’m the one who tries to make sure they’ve thought of the things that will make or break the event,” Benn says. “The students typically have the great ideas. They are so creative, talented and dedicated. They inspire me and motivate me, and they remind me of why I’m here. They are one my greatest sources of pride and joy.”

Texas State students love Benn, too. She was among a handful of Texas State faculty and staff recognized and thanked by the university’s 2006 graduates for her contributions to their success while attending Texas State.

Cordero, now an accountant at Texas State, says she has impacted his life as well. “Dr. Sherri Benn has been a huge influence in my life,” he says. “She has served as a personal mentor for me for many years now. I feel very fortunate to have met her, and I am glad we have consistently taken Hip-Hop Congress to new heights.”