Hip Hop Congress

Hip Hop Congress Goes Platinum

Support The Hip Hop Congress “Going Platinum” Campaign

To All Hip Hop Heads, Organizers, Activists, Artists, Fans and supporters of Hip Hop Congress:

For many years, members of Hip Hop Congress (www.hiphopcongress.com ) have discussed the strategic viability of picking an artist, one artist and using the power of our networks to influence the sales of an artist. The reasoning behind the strategy was that by supporting this artist we could help influence the outcome of what music was being pumped out in the airwaves. The struggle was in what artist to support. Did it make more sense to support a local or regional artist from the ground up, or to support an established Hip Hop artist that we all recognized had a positive message.

But recently, something occurred to us that had escaped our at attention until now. Maybe we can make ourselves go platinum. And maybe you can help us do it.

We all buy albums. Maybe many of us download more albums that we purchase, but even if you purchase one album a year, you understand what’s possible. An album can cost anywhere from $5 on the street to $20 in the store. Our concept is simple.

Instead of buying an album, donate that $5 to $20 to Hip Hop Congress. If we can go platinum once a year, than that means we can raise between $5 to $20 million dollars annually.

What’s that money going to go to: we’re glad you asked this question.

This money will go to:

• Creating a new Hip Hop economy that supports local and regional artists
• Creating a Cultural economy that helps create more free and conscious events for all ages
• Connecting Hip Hop Congress members and chapters to local and regional programs and youth centers like Elements in Cincinnati, Silicon Valley Debug in San Jose, Washington Community Center in Sacramento, J.U.I.C.E. in Los Angeles and the Umojafest P.E.A.C.E. center in Seattle.
• Helping to financially support these youth and cultural centers with dollars from our own communities
• Help support our youth, high school and college chapters in their programming and event goals
• To create more events and economic opportunities for artists of all sorts
• To help finically support organizing and education efforts that affect all of our communities in issues live youth violence, police accountability, poverty, institutional racism and diversity.
• Educating and training cultural leaders in every country of the country and eventually the planet.
• Supporting Stronger networks for educators and artists like the Urban Teachers Network, The Dope Emporium Artists Network, The Academy of Hip Hop, and curriculum models like H2ED’s Guidebook and Conscious Women Rock the Page.
• Supporting the annual Hip Hop Congress National Conference by providing support for chapters, artists, facilitators and facilities.
• To support regional conferences and local events at a financial, administrative and programmatic level.
• To support community organizing efforts around political education, health care, artists rights, legal and police accountability matters and much more.

At a time when the economy is cutting into the lifeblood of non-profits, social services, education and our ability as a community to care for each other, Hip Hop Congress is shifting its national fundraising focus. Hip Hop Congress National CEO Shamako Noble says, “Looking at our service numbers, with the multitude of youth, artists, managers, promoters and educators who’ve benefitted from our service, we’ve been happy to provide whatever we can at as low a cost as possible. In fact, we’d love to increase our level of service provision. However, the costs and challenges of running a national organization are real, and so we’re doing something that we’ve never done before. We’re calling on the open support of all of our constituency to support this bold and powerful endeavor. Not just our members, chapters and artists, but families and teachers, promoters and venues owners. We are asking for the support of anyone who believes in the power of Hip Hop culture, or art in general to educate, redirect, inform and provide economic opportunity. And the truth is all we are asking for is the cost of a CD. Artists go platinum every month and record labels benefit without any of it going back into the community. Well, if we can go platinum, we will put that money and that effort right back where it belongs: with Hip Hop on the block that creates it. ”

If Hip Hop Congress can go platinum, we can continue to deliver quality, low cost cultural and youth leadership in cities and states across America while providing jobs for artists and youth, ad using art to provide and support real solutions.

All donors will have the option of downloading the album, “The Return of the Coming of the Aftermath,” recorded by Hip Hop Congress President Shamako Noble. “You might not like the album, but it’s an honest work of art, and HHC is full of artists whose project should be purchased on supported otherwise. ”

To donate, please go to www.hiphopcongress.com

For more information please email shamako@hiphopcongress.com