Hip Hop in the Voting Booth
Bakari Kitwana is a journalist and activist who has appeared on CNN, BET and NPR. He is the co-founder of the National Political Hip-Hop Convention and the author of The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture. Bakari is currently Artist-in-Residence at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago. I had the pleasure of meeting Bakari after his moderating duties for “Rap Sessions: Community Dialogues on Hip Hop” at Northeastern University. I asked Bakari if he thought America might be afraid of a politically active, socially conscious, and demanding hip hop community (emphasis on the community, not the music).
Barack Obama's Candidacy
That was a very thoughtful explanation of the emotional climate regarding Obama’s mobilizing effect on America’s youth to get involved in the political process and the fear of the “business as usual” crowd who’s jobs may become less secure and also, the journalists who can’t explain Obama’s momentum are exposed for their lack of political understanding of the current situation. I hadn’t thought of that before.
By Roberta on June 01, 2008 at 11:32 AM