This is a CNN report on the Hip-Hop Caucus’ “Green the Block Initiative,” a campaign intended to address urban poverty and climate change at the same time.

Thousands of citizens in sixteen cities across the country participated in events aimed at mass voter registration. Radio One stations broadcasted live from central locations in each of the participating cities urging unregistered voters to attend their local registration site to register onsite. Artists such as Nelly and Raheem DeVaughn helped draw large crowds to registration stations, allowing Hip Hop Caucus volunteers to register an average of 1,200 voters within each of the different markets.  

“We are so glad that we were able to get thousands of citizens involved in one of the most important rights as Americans,” says Barry Macon, Corporate Director of Marketing for Radio-One. “Voting should never be taken for granted and we felt it necessary to reach out with information and education to the community that we serve day in and day out.”

The nationwide one day voter drive was a combined effort between the Hip Hop Caucus, Radio One, Inc, and the Hip Hop Summit Action Network to register and mobilize young people to vote.

“The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network salutes The Hip-Hop Caucus for their leadership in achieving one of the largest single day voter registration records in history, particularly for youth voters,” Dr. Benjamin Chavis, President and CEO of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network. “While we are still collecting the data from other cities that participated in “The One-Day” voter campaign, we know from the tabulations that as of today well over 30,000 new voter registrations took place on September 30, 2008 across the United States .”

“This one day event proves that we can make an impact in this election, and that working together to get out the vote is the only way to see results,” says Hip Hop Caucus President, Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. who co-created the 2004 campaign “Vote or Die” with Sean “P Diddy” Combs. “Our next goal is making sure all these registered voters get out to the polls in November and really let their voice be heard.”

The Hip Hop Caucus’ Respect My Vote! Campaign seeks to register and mobilize 18-29 year olds in urban communities to vote and be engaged in the political process. Statistics show only 7% of eligible 18-29 year-olds who did not attend college, voted this past Super Tuesday and this is a target group that has not traditionally been reached out to and engaged in the political process.

Source:
Thug Life Army

The campaign slogan, “Respect My Vote!” and t-shirts were unveiled today at a press event in Washington, DC, with DJ Green Lantern, Dawn from Danity Kane, Young Berg, Maino, Wale, Young Steff, Washington Wizard Etan Thomas, Olympic Gold Medalist Anthony Killieberew, Immortal Technique, Pleasure P, World Class Sprinter and Champion Michael Walton, BET Executive Vice President Stephen Hill and many others turning out to support.  

The campaign, led by T.I., will employ other celebrities, athletes and high profile influential figures to get out the vote in a variety of ways including PSAs for radio, television and online use; in person appearances; press events; mobile and email alerts from celebrities themselves; and an aggressive online campaign. Famed photographer Jonathan Mannion has been exclusively tapped to shoot portraits of the famous faces adoring the “Respect My Vote!” slogan and t-shirt produced by forthcoming AKOO clothing line as well as direct and produce the PSAs. Confirmed participating talent will be announced throughout the campaign leading up to the November election.

Grassroots voter registration activities will be led by Hip Hop Caucus community-based street teams in seventeen (17) cities across the nation: CA (Bay Area), FL (Miami), GA (Atlanta), IN (Indianapolis), MD (Baltimore), MI (Detroit), MO (St. Louis), NC (Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham), OH (Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus), PA (Philadelphia), TX (Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston), VA (Richmond), and DC (Washington, DC).

Hip Hop Caucus President, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., who helped create VOTE OR DIE! with Sean “Diddy” Combs in 2004, explains, “No matter who wins in November, if large numbers of young people do not vote, then we all lose. It does not bode well for the future of our country, and our Democracy, if young people, particularly those who are not in college, are not engaged or involved in the electoral process. This campaign is critical in strengthening our Democracy and thus protecting our freedom.”

Half of young Americans ages 18-29 have never enrolled in college. According to research done by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), a non-partisan research center, nearly 80 percent of the young voters who turned out on Super Tuesday had college experience. The disparity between college educated and non-college educated young voter participation is also evident by their turnout rates: one in four eligible young voters with college experience voted on Super Tuesday, compared with one in 14 eligible young voters with no college experience.

Based on these statistics, the Hip Hop Caucus and T.I. have elected to focus on engaging those individuals who are part of the larger scope of the non-college and non-voting community.

T.I., who is gearing up for the release of his highly anticipated new album, “Paper Trail” (Grand Hustle/Atlantic Records) on September 30th and has grown to truly be one of his generation’s most captivating speakers, explains, “It’s an honor and a pleasure to be involved with the Hip Hop Caucus and be a part of such a worthy cause and important campaign. I look forward to urging the masses to take advantage of the right that I no longer have.”

This campaign will build on what worked in 2004 by using proven market outreach strategies in an electoral context. With programs including bus tours, street teams to register voters, voter education events during the Democratic and Republican Conventions and other events, we will integrate the audience building capacity of celebrities and media, and the data management and technology available for political organizations. The campaign will provide insights and data into the political behavior of this generally unengaged citizenry, and build sustainable community participation.

Source:
Market Wire

But Rev. Lennox Yearwood is looking to change that. Back in 2004, the Louisiana native founded a national, nonpartisan nonprofit organization called the Hip-Hop Caucus — in part to change how America perceives young African-Americans, but, more importantly, to change how members of this group view themselves.

Yearwood will be in Birmingham on Saturday, Jan. 19, to give a talk titled “A World House, Not an American Empire.” He is the keynote speaker at the fifth annual MLK Event sponsored by the Birmingham Peace Project. The free program starts at 7 p.m. at the Church of the Reconciler, 112 14th St. North. Alabama bluesman Willie King and spoken word artist Sharrif Simmons are also scheduled to perform.

Yearwood defines the so-called hip-hop generation as African-Americans born after the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and ‘60s. While their parents and members of the preceding generations were involved in “the issues” — racism, segregation, political disenfranchisement — the hip-hop generation is not known for its political and social prowess.

The original mission of the hip-hop caucus included inspiring young people to get involved in community building initiatives by educating them about the political process. During the 2004 presidential election, Yearwood served as the political and grassroots director for Russell Simmons’ Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and helped Sean “Diddy” Combs launch his “Vote or Die” campaign.

“We registered so many young people [to vote] across the country,” Yearwood says. “It’s an amazing sign of being involved in the process. When the process was over, we realized that a lot of the issues we wanted — like an end to poverty — something was missing.”

Yearwood insists that the future of African-Americans depends on getting young people engaged in social action.

“It’s critical,” Yearwood says. “It’s a matter of life and death. Policy has the ability to regulate or deregulate and they have the ability to change our lives so we have to be involved in that process. Too many people fought for us to be a part of this process.

“I think that what needs happen is that we need to get young people into ownership,” he says. “I want young folks to be on the City Council. I want young people to be the ones that lead. I guarantee you when we see that happen you will see Birmingham begin to change,” he says.

Members of the organization bringing Yearwood to Birmingham see the ideal target audience as any young Birminghamians who feel disconnected from the political process, regardless of race.

“I think there are a lot of folks in that generation that don’t feel that they have expressed their voice or that they have been called upon to make a contribution to our national scene,” says Birmingham Peace Project volunteer Diane McNaron. “In other words, maybe they’ve stepped back from it.

“We have to bring together people who can turn this country around from abandoning of our social justice causes internally and our terrible focusing on this war of aggression externally,” McNaron says. “There are so many people that think a certain way and feel a certain way but they’re not spurred action and maybe they‘re afraid to say what they really feel about certain things. We want to have an opportunity to come together and get informed,” she says.

Source:
Birmingham Weekly

Yearwood suffered a broken leg and had to be hospitalized following the attack.

After waiting in line throughout the morning for the hearing that was scheduled to start at 12:30pm, Rev. Yearwood was stopped from entering the room, while others behind him were allowed to enter. He told the officers blocking his ability to enter the room that he was waiting in line with everyone else and had the right to enter as well. When they threatened him with arrest he responded with “I will not be arrested today.”

According to witnesses, six capitol police, without warning, “football tackled” him. He was carried off in a wheel chair by DC Fire and Emergency to George Washington Hospital.

Rev. Yearwood said as he was being released from the hospital to be taken to central booking, “The officers decided I was not going to get in Gen. Petreaus’ hearing when they saw my button, which says ‘I LOVE THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ.’”

Capitol Police are not saying what the charges are, but an inside source has said that the charge is assaulting a police officer. Rev. Yearwood is scheduled to be transferred to Central Processing to be arraigned tomorrow morning.

The incident was recorded by an observer and is available on YouTube WhyNotNews http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiradcejA6o.

Source:
Common Dreams

After conferring briefly with a few of them, including former CIA agent Ray McGovern, congressional candidate Cindy Sheehan, and the Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., president of the of the National Hip Hop Caucus, Conyers announced that despite his prior public statements, impeachment would remain “off the table.”  

The demonstrators sang, prayed, and sat down in the congressional office, refusing to move. Forty-five of them were arrested.

As Yearwood said:

“The Hip Hop community and the Hip Hop Caucusare making a visible standfor impeachment. We invite Congressman Conyers to come back home, and to rejoin his constituents and long-time supporters on this vital issue.

“We urge everybody with access to a phone, an email account or a fax machine to call Chairman Conyers at (202) 225-5126. Tell him that thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced after Katrina were enough. It’s time to impeach. Email him at John.Conyers@mail.house.gov and tell him that illegal wars and war crimes are enough. It’s time to impeach. Bush-Cheney might even give us a new war in the months they have left. Fax Chairman Conyers at (202) 225-0072. Tell him this is why we sent him to Washington, this is why Democrats were elected to Congress. Tell John Conyers that his place in history is waiting, and so are those of George Bush, Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzalez. It’s time to send them there.”

The HipHop Caucus and the HipHop Institute can be reached on the web at: http://www.hiphopcaucus.org

Source:
The People’s Voice