Hip Hop Congress

Recently Rosa Clemente spoke at the Hip Hop Congress (HHC) National Conference in Biloxi, MS. It was a great speech. It was so genuine and on-point that as I said in a previous posting, it allowed me to recognize that I had been caught up in the Obama hype and hadn’t been paying attention to the real issues that were afflicting me and my people (i.e.: joblessness, foreclosure, extreme gas prices, poor health care access.)

In her address she didn’t just highlight why she accepted the nomination, but she also spoke about how others reacted to her accepting that nomination. She expressed disappointment in the less than enthusiastic response from Hip Hop organizations who would have otherwise embraced her during different times. In fact, at the time of her speech, she stated that HHC and the National Hip Hop Political Convention (NHHPC) were the only two Hip Hop organizations to invite her to speak about her bid for the election.

Anybody who has ever heard Rosa speak knows that she doesn’t mince words, even if what she says might make her own friends or family bristle. She is unapologetic about urgently working towards a freedom that includes everybody. And she is confident that Hip Hop can be and has been that entity to push for lasting social justice and social change.

When she spoke at the NHHPC she again highlighted these points going even further to point out that the panel from which she was speaking only had one female on it, herself. She highlighted this truth as an example as to what is going on as a whole within Hip Hop and the larger social change movement: Our inability to accept female leadership.

Furthermore, she expressed her frustration with the fact that the leadership within the Hip Hop organizational community has failed to embrace the reality that finally there is a political party that not only includes social justice in it’s agenda but walked the walk when they chose Rosa has their VP.

There are key people and factions within Hip Hop who hate when we divide on issues that have public attention. Hip Hop is a diverse democracy. It’s okay for us to have varying opinions. It keeps us honest and uncut.

What if Micheal Eric Dyson had been tapped or Bikari Kitwana? How would have Hip Hop reacted to that?

Sexism within Hip Hop is not a new topic. Male leadership hates to address it on any real level outside of validating its existence and pointing to the larger white hegemony from which we grew out of as though sexism is merely an extension of white supremacy. A total falsehood. Women have been the most oppressed group of people on the face of the planet since the dawn of time spanning all cultures.

Sexism within Hip Hop is so detrimental to our movement that enemy outsiders are able to stifle and discredit our own voices when they point it out. Combating racism and poverty has been major issues that we have tackled. If the larger highly prejudiced American society can ponder the notion of a Black president surely we can begin to search for a way to deal with the idea of a female leader in our movement.

Obama may be the next president to lead the American people. But who is leading Hip Hop?

–
Krista Keating
Executive Administrator, Hip Hop Congress-National
Program Director, The Women’s Project