WireTap / By Jesse Alejandro Cottrell

Mobilizing the Hip-Hop Generation

Hip-hop is being reclaimed from the clutches of corporations by youth activists furthering movements of social change.

April 24, 2003 |

LIKE THIS ARTICLE ?

Join our mailing list:

Sign up to stay up to date on the latest headlines via email.

Freedom Fighter Music To anyone who watches MTV all day -- where P. Diddy, Ja Rule and Nelly dominate the screen flashing fancy cars, gold chains and an entourage of scantily clad women -- political empowerment and hip-hop may seem like conflicting terms. But hip-hop has been political in nature since its birth in the youth subculture of the Bronx during the late 1970s. Unfortunately what started out as a gritty portrayal of what was really happening on the streets has been perverted in less than two decades into a seemingly endless supply of high-paid corporate clowns rapping about little more than the fact that they’re rich. Today, mainstream hip-hop is worse than apolitical -- it has become a tool to oppress and distract an entire generation of youth, especially youth of color.


		GET FUNDING FOR YOUR PROJECT Whether it be starting your own organization, working with an organization that’s already out there, or just not buying any more corporate hip-hop, its time for all the real revolutionaries and eternal hip-hop heads to take the step from talk to action. Here are a few things that you can do to make your project more appealing to funders: 1. A Budget Don’t expect a dime from anyone but your mama until you have a fairly detailed plan of where your program’s money will be going. This should include things like how much rent will cost per year if your organization will be housed, how many full time employees you’ll have and how much they’ll cost per year, money you’ll need for infrastructure (i.e. computers, printer, telephones, etc.), ongoing expenditures(i.e. phone bills, electric bills, internet bills), and finally miscellaneous costs such as money for retreats and workshops, transportation, printing, etc. 2. 5-year fiscal plan Most foundations won’t fund an organization for more than a couple years. Funders want to know that they’re not investing in an organization that will go belly-up as soon as their funding stops. Creating a five year fiscal plan will help you show them that your organization is on the track to self sustainability. 3. Mission Statement A mission statement is a few sentences that lays out the bare bones of what your organization is dedicated to doing. The mission statement is the heart and soul of any grant proposal you’ll write because it’s what funders look at to find out what you’re all about. Everything in your program should be a manifestation of the core beliefs and goals contained in your mission statement. 4. Fiscal Sponsorship A fiscal sponsor is basically another non-profit that will take care of your all your money matters. They take care of things like your organization’s bank account, paying your organization’s employees, and dispensing W-2s. A non-profit is any organization that has 501(c) 3 status with the IRS. Now that you’ve got a budget, a fiscal plan, mission statement and fiscal sponsor, you’re ready to write a grant and get your project funded. Unfortunately, most foundations that fund organizations have less money to pay out in grants than they had a year and a half ago, due to the sagging economy. This means that not only does your project need all of the aforementioned components, but your grant has to be written extremely well, too. Luckily, there is an organization called The Foundation Center with centers across the country that holds seminars on how to write a grant and how to do lots of other paperwork related to creating an organization, usually for free. And if you don’t want to write the grant yourself, there are always professional grant-writers who won’t charge you until you’ve begun receiving your grant money. Fundraising Resources Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT) The Teacher's Toolkit: Grant Writer's Resource Links Center for Third World Organizing Links to Funders of Youth Activism: Funder's Collaborative on Youth Organizing FreeChild.org: Links to Youth Activism Funders Youth Action Net Grant Links Tolerance.org Mix It Up Grants Recognizing Youth as Resources The Source Foundation

Youth organizers today are fed up with this perversion of their own resistance culture and are taking steps to reclaim hip-hop's political power. According to Davey D, a founder of hip-hop activism and DJ of KPFA's "Hard Knock Radio," one of the first steps in reclaiming hip-hop from corporations is introducing the masses to politicized hip-hop. "They stole it from us, repackaged it, and are selling it back to us as something they created," he said.

View as a single page