Hip Hop Congress

Board of Directors

Alyssa Macy: Co-Chair
Alyssa Dawamana Macy is of the Wasco/Navajo/Hopi descent and a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon. Alyssa was raised on her reservation and left at the age of 18 to pursue higher education. She obtained a B.S. in Justice Studies from Arizona State University in 2000. Following graduation, she worked as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives. During her time in D.C., she worked on Native American, judicial, and immigration issues. Currently, she is completing a Master of Public Policy program at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Her area of specialization is international economic policy and development with a focus on Indigenous Peoples’. In addition to her academic experience, she also brings a variety of skills and experiences to CCP. She served as the Co-Author and Senior Researcher for the national post election analysis of the Native Vote 2004 project and has over 9 years experience in conducting social sciences research. She also has worked extensively in youth leadership development with organizations such as United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY), National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Youth Commission, and the Miss NCAI Scholarship Pageant. Finally, she is a lead trainer for the CCP training, “Building Political Power in Communities of Color” which has trained more than 100 youth of color nationally. In 2004, Alyssa worked as the Organizing Director for Native American Voters at National Voice where she led a national voter mobilization campaign throughout Indian Country in coordination with Native Vote. Currently, she serves as the Political Director at the Center for Civic Participation where her primary responsibility is to help develop, support, and coordinate statewide coalitions of nonprofits working to increase civic participation. Alyssa recently joined the board of the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations.

James White: Co-Chair
James White graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee with honors, was conferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the Trinity Hall College and Seminary and is a Master of Science in Engineering Management Candidate at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). He is an ordained Christian Minister and is the founding Board Chairman of ENCOMPASS, the Milwaukee Engineering, Planning and Technical Careers Partnership. He was elected to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors as the 1st District Supervisor in 1996 and re-elected in 2000 and 2004. He has served as First Vice Chairman and Second Vice Chairman of the Milwaukee County Board and currently serves as Chairman of the Committee on Transportation, Public Works and Transit. In this capacity, Supervisor White serves as policy committee chairman for General Mitchell International Airport, the Milwaukee County Transit System, and the Milwaukee County Highway Commission. He is also a member of the County Board’s Economic and Community Development Committee. Prior to his election, James served as a systems analyst with the Federal Reserve Bank and a systems technician with MicroAge Computers. He later served as director of a drug treatment clinic and as a media and public policy analyst for Milwaukee County. Supervisor White is serving his 5th term on the Wisconsin Counties Association Board of Directors.

Charlie Braxton
Hip hop journalist, scholar, playwright, poet and author Charlie Braxton has contributed to a number of publications, including the Source, Vibe, Murder Dog, Doula and the Washington Post. His poetry has appeared in literary publications such as African American Review, Cutbanks, the Minnesota Review, Drum Voices Review, the Black Nation, the San Fernando Poetry Journal and Sepia Poetry Review. Additionally, Charlie’s poems have been anthologized in Word Up: Black Poetry from the Deep South, In the Tradition, Soul Fires, Step Into A World, Bum Rush the Page, and Role Call. Charlie’s Ascension from the Ashes, a volume of verse, was published in 1990 by Blackwood Press. Charlie is presently co-producing a documentary on the history of Southern hip hop entitled Southern Explosion and penning a book on the roots and evolution of hip hop culture. His unique approach in merging politics and pop culture keeps him in the forefront as a sought-after commentator on issues affecting Black and Hip Hop communities. He is also a collaborator with fellow hip hop historian Kevin Powell in Hip Hop Speaks: Conversations About America. Charlie is a graduate of Jackson State University and worked closely with the now defunct Mississippi Institute for Economic and Technological Resources. He is also the former publisher and editor of the Hattiesburg Informer. Today Charlie mentors young people around social issues and the music industry, either consulting or managing a handful of Jackson-based Hip Hop artists and entrepreneurs.

Adisa Banjoko
Adisa Banjoko is a powerful African-American speaker and author from the Bay Area who discusses such topics as hip hop, Islam, African-American issues and American society. He is the author of Lyrical Swords I: Hip Hop and Politics in the Mix and Lyrical Swords II: Westside Rebellion, and his writing has appeared in such varied domains as Vibe, The Source, XXL, Yoga Journal, Pacific News Service, and Allhiphop.com. Adisa blogs at Holla at a Scholar!! and is the former host of One Mic Radio, a Bay Area radio show that blended hip hop, comedy and political discussion. Though he has spoken at such universities as Harvard University, Brown University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and San Francisco State, he is equally as excited about his frequent motivational talks for incarcerated youth at San Francisco Juvenile Hall Center and his appearance at Oakland’s Mandela High School. Adisa Banjoko has appeared on panels and shared the stage with many political and cultural icons including S.F. Mayor Willie Brown, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, rap legend Chuck D, and pioneer b-boy CrazyLegs. He has made numerous appearances on radio shows, including NPR with Ed Gordon, Air America with Chuck D and KMEL Street Soldiers Radio. Adisa also hosted a presentation of films on hip hop and urban culture at the San Francisco Black Film Festival.

Kristine M. Wright
Tina Wright received her doctorate in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine (UCI). She is a lecturer at California State University, Long Beach, where she teaches courses on Race, Class and Gender, and Social Stratification. She also is an instructor for the “Sociology of Popular Culture – Examining Hip Hop” class at UCI, which she created and began teaching in 2001. Wright authors commentaries on hip hop issues published on various web sites (www.daveyd.com and www.blackelectorate.com), under the title “Rise Up Hip Hop Nation, Wise Up.” In terms of her personal passion for hip hop, Wright states, “Although I grew up with hip hop (literally), my interest in hip hop today is not so much in its artistic forms of expression, but in its people and their social and political freedom from oppression. For me hip hop has and always will be foremost about the people it represents and our struggles.”

Lee Ballinger
Lee Ballinger is a long-time music advocate and activist. He is the West Coast Editor of Rock & Rap Confidential and co-founder of Rock-a-Mole Productions (co-producer of the Rock a Mole music festivals). Lee is the author of Lynyrd Skynyrd: An Oral History. He is a combat veteran from his tour in the navy in Vietnam. His many involvements include the Anti-Arnold Campaign, initiating the counterattack against music censorship, and initiating the Art Meets Labor events in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Omaha, and Lincoln.

Jansett Belovodia
Jansett Belovodia began her career as a professional actress after obtaining a BFA in Theatre Arts but soon determined that her calling was to transcend personal ambition and embrace the needs of the world around her. She has worked as a registered interpreter for the deaf in Delaware, D.C., and Watts. She has served as a healer, minister, certified yoga instructor, and animal communicator, but she has also worked as a waitress, legislative aide on Capitol Hill and associate secretary of the board of trustees at Stanford University. Throughout, she has vigorously engaged in volunteer work including Project Appalachia, the Winnebago reservation in Nebraska, the International Medical Corps (medical relief effort for the children of Afghanistan) and the Lokenath Mission of Calcutta (medical and educational assistance to people from the slums and villages of Bengal). She produced a CD for the Tibetan Drepung Gomang Monks in 1999, which enables them to continue to raise funds around the world. She has edited several publications, including Adisa Banjoko’s Lyrical Swords I: Hip Hop and Politics in the Mix and Lyrical Swords II: Westside Rebellion. She served for over eight years as associate director and board member for a nonprofit youth center in Menlo Park, California, and on the board of the Abhidyan Yoga Institute for two years.

Anasa Troutman

Ditra Edwards