The power of music and the power of politics met Tuesday, with a hip-hop mogul and one of the most prominent leaders in Congress joining their considerable forces to spotlight issues facing youth in America.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attended a youth conference co-sponsored by entrepreneur and entertainer Russell Simmons in Washington. The one-day event, called Keeping the Promise to Our Children, brought legislators together with entertainment A-listers, including Oscar-nominee Terrence Howard, who used their celebrity to advocate a variety of causes: foster care, health care and education among them.

Simmons’ Hip Hop Summit Action Network and the nonprofit, California-based Children Uniting Nations hosted the event. This is the fourth conference organized by Daphna Ziman, an adoptive mother of a child formerly in foster care and founder of Children Uniting Nations, which matches children in foster care with mentors.

Actress Gabrielle Union and actor/musician Howard were among the celebrities at the conference who pushed for policy changes directed at improving educational outreach to foster children. Only 54 percent of children in foster care graduate high school, according to the University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall Center for Children.

“Intervening in the lives of these young people, giving them a sense of dignity and worth, providing them with more opportunities, therefore, is one of the most important things you can do, not just for them, which is the most important thing, but for the strength of our country,” said Pelosi at a news conference before the event.

Panel discussions at the conference also addressed nutrition, mental health, HIV/AIDS and drug abuse. Children Uniting Nations plans to lobby Congress on these issues, said the organization’s spokeswoman, Juliette Harris.

Last year, the organization pushed for a $5,000 college loan subsidy for students who mentor at-risk youths, and the subsidy was passed in the House as part of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act. This year, the organization has lobbied for the Foster Care Mentoring Act of 2009, which was introduced by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana; and Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-New York, also attendees at Tuesday’s conference. The act proposes an allocation of $15 million for foster-care mentoring programs.

Investing in youths now can help them stay out of trouble and be more successful adults, said Simmons.

“We have such a great opportunity to make changes at this time and save our communities money and anguish,” said Simmons. “The economics of saving kids save money.”

Source:
CNN

The United Nations has launched a trust fund to build a permanent memorial for victims of slavery, and appointed entrepreneur and hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons as a Goodwill Ambassador to promote the project.

A 2007 General Assembly resolution designated 25 March as an annual day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and called for a permanent memorial to be erected at UN Headquarters to acknowledge the tragedy and consider the legacy of slavery.

“We hope to encourage broad study of the causes and lessons of the 400-year slave trade. We want to mobilize educational institutions and civil society to discuss the threat of intolerance from which no society is immune,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message to the launch ceremony, read out by Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Kiyo Akasaka.

Mr. Simmons told reporters his role would be to increase awareness, especially among young persons, of the history of slavery, its lasting impact, and current slavery issues.

“It’s humbling to be invited to join the UN community in this role as Goodwill Ambassador. In recognizing the past, we understand the stakes in ensuring that something as devastating to the human condition as the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade will never happen again,” he said.

“My life’s commitment is to be of service to the empowerment of young people living in struggle, who undoubtedly have been effected by this legacy.”

The memorial, projected to cost $3.5 million, is expected to be completed by 2012.

Source:
UN News Center

Children Uniting Nations (CUN), one of the premier non-profit institutions working with at-risk youth, recently announced its partnership with Russell Simmons’ “Hip Hop Summit Action Network”, heading into the 4th Annual “Keeping the Promise to our Children” conference in Washington DC. Set for June 9th, HSAN president and historic civil rights veteran Dr. Benjamin Chavis held a key role in the new partnership’s formation, which will be formally introduced through a morning press conference held at the House Capitol Building and the following conference with panel discussions in the famous Woodrow Wilson Plaza located in the Ronald Reagan Building.  

This year’s confirmed political leaders include former House Majority Leader Richard Armey, Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, Senator Evan Bayh, Congressman Dennis Cardoza, Congressman Joe Crowley, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Mary Landrieu, Honorable Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Congressman Adam Schiff, Senator Olympia Snowe, Senator John Kerry, Senator Barbara Boxer, Congresswoman Diane Watson, Congressman Howard Berman, Speaker of Assembly Karen Bass and Senator Dianne Feinstein while others are confirming daily.

In the year since the last conference, Children Uniting Nations has seen significant legislative achievements in support of mentoring for at-risk children. An amendment to provide loan forgiveness to community college students who mentor at-risk youth in their communities was passed by the House as part of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act in 2008, and an amendment to support the mentoring of children in foster care was passed unanimously in the Senate as part of the recent Serve America Act (2009). CUN looks forward to building upon these successes in the coming legislative session.

Children Uniting Nations Chairwoman Daphna Ziman remarked, “We are proud to be partnered with such an exceptional organization like the Hip Hop Summit Action Network. As advocates for education, health and other societal concerns essential to the empowerment of the world’s youth, we couldn’t have found a better match for this year’s conference.” Russell Simmons, Chairman and Co-Founder of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, emphasized, “Children Uniting Nations is one of the most effective organizations of our time and our partnership will help to raise public awareness about the key public policy issues that are focused on empowering children to have a better quality of life. The “Keeping the Promise to our Children” Conference in Washington on June 9, 2009 will enable more people to make a real difference on these important issues.”

Dr. Benjamin Chavis, President and Co-Founder of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network concluded, “We are very enthusiastic about our partnership with “Children Uniting Nations. Together we will help promote change in America and throughout the world in the interests of children. The opportunity to affect public policy and take action on behalf of millions of children is a welcomed challenge.”

Source:
PR Newswire

This is the trailer for “Lockdown, USA,” a feature documentary that chronicles Russell Simmons’ campaign to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws, the controversial New York State laws created in 1973 that became the foundation to America’s War on Drugs.

Seven years ago, the Hip-hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) kicked off with a town hall type meeting with participation from entertainment and music industry leaders. Since then, the organization has been using Hip-hop culture as a bridge to connect youth to community-based initiatives.

“That meeting was so powerful,” recalls Valeshia Butterfield, HSAN’s executive director. “The first objective was to address the Rockefeller Drug Laws, but also [to] engage young adults in the civic process.” In 2003, HSAN began its first push towards youth voter registration. Through its work with other organizations, Butterfield maintains that HSAN has helped register approximately 1.8 million voters.

“Looking [at] this election cycle,” adds the North Carolina native, “it was important for us to have a heavy online component.” To launch the Voteforit!08 public service announcement, HSAN partnered with CPXample, the philanthropic division of CPX Interactive, a New York based online advertising company. Currently, according to YouTube, the public service announcement has been viewed over 1.3 million times.

In addition to YouTube, Time Warner Cable announced that it would distribute the public service announcement on several platforms, including channels with strong youth-oriented demographics. Web surfers can also click onto the HSAN.org website to register to vote.

The question still remains, will the million plus clicks onto the YouTube Voteforit08!PSA translate into actual votes? It’s hard to say. At the same time, it’s not too hard to imagine that young people under thirty like, even an MTA worker in New York City and a ranch hand in Montana have something in common when it comes to the politics in their respective playlists.

And according to civicyouth.org, an online link to the Tufts University based non-partisan Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, over 6.5 million voters under the age of thirty participated in the primaries and caucuses across the nation this year. Issues like the economy, the minimum wage, education, and domestic security are central to this young voting demographic, says Butterfield. It’s interesting to note that the R-word (“race”) isn’t part of Butterfield’s assessment; the issues young people speak to her about cut across racial barriers.

Professor Michael Dawson, the John D. MacArthur professor of political science at the University of Chicago, believes that the young, tech-savvy urban demographic could help to sway the upcoming election in critical states. Dawson foresees a racially fluid voting bloc buoyed by the influence of young, black, and brown Hip-hop artists crossing over into more diverse suburban areas made up of whites, Asians, and middle class voting age youth.

“We have to think about how large the urban demographic is in particular states,” says Dawson. “In states like Michigan, Ohio [and] Pennsylvania, the urban demographic is large enough to tilt the election, if voters come out in very large numbers. I think that what we’re seeing among young people is that they’re embracing technology. We’re going to see to what degree these technologies have paid off in mobilizing groups of voters. In the long run [it] speaks to the transformation of American politics.”

Source:
Uptown Life 

“Get Your House Right!” is a homeownership tour that kicks off in New York City and is supported by corporate sponsor Genworth Financial. It works with professionals from the financial, mortgage and homeownership arena to educate Blacks and Latinos on the long-term benefits of homeownership in America.

“This stuff is not being taught in schools,” says Simmons.

Blacks have lost more than $92 billion because of foreclosures, and traditionally underrepresented groups are projected to lose more than $200 billion overall. HSAN understands the seriousness of this crisis and is using hip hop as a way to educate the younger generation.

“Russell’s at the cutting edge of using our hip-hop culture to implement social change,” says Chavis.

“Homeownership cultivates and upholds the viability of urban communities and provides a legacy of wealth creation that can be passed on from one generation to the next,” says Lori Jones Gibbs, vice president of affordable housing and industry affairs at Genworth Mortgage Insurance.

The tour will make stops in Houston; Chicago; Charlotte, N.C.; Cleveland; Baltimore; Richmond, Va.; St. Louis; and Atlanta. However, HSAN notes that “Get Your House Right!” is a national effort and is not just focused on the tour cities.

Simmons says the initiative’s main objective is to answer the question “How do we build a better relationship with the financial world so that we can achieve our goals and live out the American dream?”

On July 9th many gathered for the PSA unveiling and launch party, guests included Hip-Hop mogul, Russell Simmons and former CEO of the NAACP now, President of Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis. I got the chance to go to this event and speak with both gentlemen, who had very optimistic things to say about this year’s youth vote.

“The idea that young people are going to pick the president is one that’s inspiring to me” said Simmons to the crowd of people who gathered at Room Service in NYC for the event. Simmons continued by saying, “There are so many issues I think young people are more concerned about than the previous generations.”

When talking personally with Simmons I could tell how excited he was about this up coming election.
With an enthusiastic crowd chatting among each other about the impact that this year’s youth will have, there was much talk about what kind of turn out there will be come November.

“I think we’re going to have the largest youth vote turn out in American history this November”, said Dr. Benjamin Chavis.

Dr. Benjamin Chavis also commented to me about our special that aired last weekend, Election 08: The Y Factor, stating that he really enjoyed the special. As well he mentioned, “I thought Fox News went beyond what the other networks are doing a lot of people are underestimating the importance of this youth vote.”

I had to agree with him when he said a lot of people are underestimating the importance, because being in that youth voter range I know personally a lot of people are very concerned with who is going to be are next president and older generations do not realize that.

Vote for it 08 is really trying to get the word out to the youth about the importance of voting in the upcoming election and I think there on the right start. Using creative straw polls that seemed to be inspired by the youth during the event, such as the “Use your voice, drink your choice” ballot featuring the blue Obama Slammers and the red McCain Mashers encouraging young voters to utilize their voice this election.

The event was a great start to get people, not only the youth energized for November.

What the youth turn out will be in November, we’ll have to wait and see, but with events and organizations such as Vote for It 08, they are sure to get today’s youth riled up for this election. As Dr. Benjamin Chavis said, “In 2008, I think it’s going to be phenomenal.”

Source:
Fox News

The press conference to launch the national “Hip-Hop Team Vote: Turn Up The Vote” campaign will be held in the city of Philadelphia on March 19 at 11am EDT on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Houston Hall (Bodek Lounge) at 3417 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. In addition, the press conference will announce a statewide youth voter registration effort between March 18 – March 24, the deadline to register voters for the April 22 Pennsylvania primary.  

Dr. Benjamin Chavis, President/CEO of the Hip-Hop Research and Education Fund, Steve Phillips, Founder and Chairman of PowerPAC and Valeisha Butterfield, Executive Director of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, have joined together to issue a call to millions of 18-35 year olds to participate in the campaign. “Hip-Hop Team Vote: Turn Up The Vote” will utilize a variety of means to reach its target demographic and maximize youth voter registration, including hip-hop radio stations, artists, recording industry street teams, web and pod casts, social networks, blogs and grass roots organizing.

“We decided to draw the line, especially in Pennsylvania, to settle once and for all any question about the sustainability of the impact of the youth vote transforming the American political landscape,” declared HSAN former Chairman, Russell Simmons. “While there’s been much speculation, and in some instances outright denial, of the impact of the youth vote, we know the power and self expression of young people is growing. We want to celebrate that growth and encourage an even greater youth voter turnout.”

Dr. Benjamin Chavis emphasized, “The truth is, four years ago in the last national election, we witnessed the largest youth voter turnout in American history. We know, beyond the shadow of any doubt, the evolution of hip-hop culture helped to create that reality. We are already witnessing now in 2008 how young voters are building and expanding on the foundation laid four years ago. Civic engagement is a part of what it means to be a responsible citizen. And, in defiance of some of the myths about the responsibility of the hip-hop generation, it is in fact a significant testimony that the youth of today are not only rising to the occasion of responsibility, they are taking charge and will make the biggest difference in the outcome of the 2008 presidential election.”

The 18-29 year old segment of the hip-hop generation will be nearly 50 million strong in 2008, making up one third of the electorate. Civicyouth.org reported that between the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, youth voter turnout more than doubled.

“The hip-hop generation of this country will make the critical difference in determining the next President of the United States,” declared Valeisha Butterfield. “Through Hip-Hop Team Vote, we have redefined the face and perception of what it is to be a new young voter. As a program created to effectively engage young adults in the political process, Hip-Hop Team Vote has launched the ‘Turn Up The Vote’ campaign to address the issues that directly effect our generation and to ensure that our unified voice is heard loud and clear. As a young woman and professional in the recording industry, I send an open invitation to every young adult in the state of Pennsylvania and throughout America to join our movement.”

Added 22-year-old Philadelphia native, Lauren Goodwin, “As a 22 year old, recent college graduate, I recognize that my home state of Pennsylvania has an opportunity to make a tremendous impact on this nation. Although I have been involved in the political process in the past, this is the first election that I have felt truly engaged and connected to the issues. More is at stake than ever before because of the current war in Iraq, disproportionate funding for public education and the economic future of the United States. Pennsylvania, stand up and join me and the millions of other young adults by registering to vote and making our voices heard on April 22!”

“We’re about expanding democracy through support of communities that have been marginalized and underrepresented in the decision-making process,” offers Steve Phillips, founder and chairman of PowerPAC. “Our goal is to build a new base of political activism. This work is not about electing any particular candidate; it is about bringing people into the process.”

“I commend Russell Simmons on his ongoing efforts to energize the youth of this country to exercise their right to vote,” said Michael Steele, Chairman of GOPAC and former Lt. Governor of Maryland. “I am honored to be a part of energizing this exciting base of new voters. This generation of young Americans can transform the political landscape, regardless of party affiliation, simply by taking their seat at the table and making their voices heard through their vote. To these young and new voters, don’t believe the hype: your vote counts!”

The community partners are the United States Student Association and Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN).

Before publicly endorsing Senator Barack Obama recently, Russell Simmons chose to take a leave of absence as Chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network until after the 2008 presidential election, to protect the integrity of the organization. However, he remains an active participant in HSAN events.

Source:
Business Wire

“I’m very disappointed in the governor. I should say that the hip hop is getting ready to get in his ass,” Russell Simmons said on Tuesday night’s “Inside City Hall.”

Simmons says Governor Eliot Spitzer as a candidate talked a good game about reforming the Rockefeller drug laws. But 14 months after inauguration, some feel cheated. “He promised all of us that he would do something about this prison reform issue,” said Simmons.

The fiery issue is a set of laws among the strictest in the nation, demanding sentences for the sale or possession of drugs. African Americans and Latinos are hit especially hard, making up 91 percent of those behind bars. The laws account for 21 percent of the prison population, costing a half billion dollars a year.

Running for office, Spitzer impressed advocates.

“As a candidate, Eliot Spitzer was enthusiastically in favor of reform of Rockefeller,” said Assemblyman Jeffion Aubry.

“I will continue to support efforts to reform these laws,” he said in a survey. It’s a position he reiterated Wednesday, but now with a caveat.

“We’re trying to come up with something that is reasoned that will maintain safety. People should not forget, we have seen a dramatic drop in crime over the years in New York State,” said Spitzer. “And that’s because – I can say this as a prosecutor – we prosecute crimes, we’re tough, we lock up those that are guilty. And so we have to be very measured and reasoned in what we do.”

A recent spike in the release of violent criminals has Spitzer on the defensive, although aides noted a majority of the parole board’s appointees are carryovers from the Pataki administration.

Spitzer did set up a commission that recommended in some cases alternatives to prison, but only with the agreement of the court, the defense and the prosecution.

Some feel no real reforms will happen until the State Senate is stripped of its Republican control – a margin now at just one seat.

“We’re really counting on 2009 when hopefully there will be the leadership in Albany across the board to push for major Rockefeller reform together, with a comprehensive reform of New York’s drug policies,” said Ethan Nadelmann of Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group against the nation’s war on drugs.

As for Simmons’ remarks, Spitzer still calls him a friend.

Source:
NY1

The hip-hop mogul said Sunday he is endorsing Barack Obama for president, inspired by the diversity among the Illinois senator’s supporters. Obama has built an unprecedented national movement of people from all ethnic, racial, political, social and economic backgrounds, Simmons said in a news release.

It was a little more than a year ago that Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings who says he’s an independent who has supported Democrats and Republicans, sounded as if he was having a hard time deciding.

“If you could take Barack Obama’s image, add Hillary Rodham Clinton’s money and John Edwards’ voice, that would be my candidate,” Simmons said in January 2007.

At the time, Simmons called Obama “a rock star” who hadn’t presented a clear picture of where he stands.

“I don’t know what his opinions are,” Simmons said then, noting that he preferred Edwards’ message and was fond of liberal Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich.

Simmons still has enough love to go around, it seems.

While endorsing Obama on Sunday, he noted his respect for Clinton from having worked with the New York senator on education, prison reform and anti-poverty programs.

Simmons, who has encouraged influential musicians to become more involved in the political process, said he’s particularly impressed, however, by Obama’s support among young people.

Source:
The Associated Press