Hip Hop as a Political Tool

By Yvonne Bynoe, AlterNet. Posted June 9, 2004.

Many people who want to politically and civically engage young people see hip hop culture as the best avenue to accomplish these goals. Although hip hop culture is ubiquitous, particularly in relation to youth, such a road is fraught with landmines, given controversial rap music lyrics that tend to sensationalize violence, crime and sex and rap music videos that depict women as sex toys. However, for social change agents intent on this path, the challenge is to begin to formulate strategies that use hip hop to foster young people's interest in and engagement with issues that impact them and their communities. This new use of hip hop is a sharp departure from the more common but less effective practice of using it to either lure young people to political events or as a vehicle for young people to write and rap about issues, but not to devise ways to resolve them.

Social change agents, rather than getting mired in the entertainment aspects of hip hop, can instead use hip hop within a political or civic framework by getting young people to begin to think critically about themselves, their world and their role as citizens. In thinking about using hip-hop in a new socially and politically progressive way, I urge social change agents to consider the following:

1. Content is Not Neutral: When discussing hip hop, rather than being solely concerned with not alienating youth or simply validating their expressions, social change agents should also challenge young people to assess and analyze hip hop culture and its effects (positive and negative) on them and their communities. Some questions to consider would be: 1) What do the lyrics of a particular song really mean? Many young people listen to the beats of rap songs but not to the lyrics. 2) Who controls hip hop in terms of how rap artists are selected; what rap music is produced; how and to whom it is marketed to; what is the role of commercial radio in making rap music hits and who benefits financially from hip hop? Many young people erroneously believe that it is people like themselves rather than corporate executives who largely direct the course of mainstream hip-hop culture. 3) What personal and community values, principles and ideals does a particular rap song promote? Do the young people agree or disagree with these beliefs and why? Unfortunately, in the absence of alternative influences, many young people are using the messages and images of hardcore rap music and rap music videos to develop both their personal and public identities.

2. Focus On History: Today, many young people coming out of our public schools lack a grounding in history; a sense of what their ancestors went through so that they could have the opportunity to even think about being rap moguls or multimillionaire ball players. The perfunctory Black History Month programs invariably highlight the same three or four heroes, but in schools there is no long-term commitment to telling young people about the many and complicated steps that were necessary to secure their current freedoms and options. Regrettably, many young people have scant knowledge of slavery (some even question that it occurred or was really brutal). Despite all of the talk about the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, many young people have little knowledge about the social and political events that preceded them. This information vacuum makes young people susceptible to a "here and now" mentality that does not support collective political or social action, much less a long-term commitment to either individual or community goals.

3. Leadership Development: There needs to be a more concerted effort to fund and champion programs that tangibly expand young people's leadership capacity. The role of the leader has to be de-mystified and made accessible to a wider group of young adults. This means more programs that help young people to understand how community groups, decision-makers and elected officials operate and function to serve their constituents. Young people must be given the tools and opportunities to develop real initiatives that can affect their immediate communities. Moreover, young adults should be encouraged not only to become activists, but also elected officials on their local school boards and city councils. It is also important to stress that not everyone need be an out-in-front "leader" to be a change agent. Young people need to know that at the community level and at the state and federal levels there is a great need for behind-the-scenes players such as media relations professionals, speechwriters, fundraisers, lobbyists, policy analysts, chiefs of staffs, legislative aides and attorneys.

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