MLK event speaker on Hip Hop Activism in the Age of Obama

GVSU hosted the first of several events today for Martin Luther King Jr. week on campus, with a public lecture by author/activist Bakari Kitwana. Kitwana has written several books on the politics of Hip Hop, with his most recent book entitled Hip Hop Activism in the Obama Era.

The speaker began by talking about the connection between MLK, the Civil Rights movement and young people today. He also stated that he wanted to demystify the work of activism.

One thing he pointed out was to say that MLK day should be seen as a celebration of all the participants of the Civil Rights Movement and not just King the individual. This led Bakari to identify three Civil Rights activists, such as Diane Nash, a co-founder of SNCC and a participant in the Freedom Rides.

Another woman he mentioned was Dr. BerniceJohnson Reagon, who was a founding member of the musical group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Bakari spoke about how important music was and what role it played in the movement. He said that Bernice told him about her own involvement in the movement and how at times they were very afraid to take a public stand against injustice.

The third woman that Bakari identified was Carlotta Walls LaNier, one of the Little Rock Nine. At a lecture in which Bakari was at, where Carlotta was also present, people were talking about the mergence of Hip Hop and politics. Carlotta said to Bakari, “what are you waiting for?” Barkari told that story to illustrate the point that each generation needs to step up and make change.

Bakari then shifted to talking about the legacy and the message of Dr. King. He identified three main points that he felt is relevant to take from the Civil Rights movement and what it means for today.

The speaker emphasized how this movement is always moving and is made up of many. He cites Vincent Hardings book There is a River: The Black Struggle for Freedom in America, which makes the point that each generation of African Americans gave birth to leaders and organizations that determined what direction the struggle would go.

Bakari then shifted to discussing how morality was viewed by the likes of King and Malcolm. Too often morality is limited to just being against something like pre-marital sex. It ends up just being a position. However, for King morality has more to do with what action we take to intervene in major issues of the day such as war. Kitwana then applies King’s notion of morality to the current US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bakari particularly points out both the human and monetary costs of these wars and even provides data from the National Priorities Project.

Another issue that King spoke and acted on was the wealth divide in the US and how a disproportionately large percentage of people living in poverty. The gap between the rich and the poor has tripled in the last three decades, according to Kitwana, with an estimated 40 million Americans living in poverty.

King, of course, also addressed the intersection of race and class, according to the speaker. He tells the story of King talking to poor Whites while being in jail in Birmingham and that those poor Whites have the same reasons to march against injustices as Blacks do.

Kitwana then shifted his talk to the youth of today and the history of the Hip Hop movement. Much of the original Hip Hop artists came out of the growing economic divide that resulted in the 1980s with a large shift of US manufacturing jobs to overseas markets.

Hip Hop emerged as a response to this kind of economic disparity in the US and particularly how it impacted the Black community. With Hip Hop you have people in the Black community articulating a vision for struggle across the country. This vision led to the formation of Hip Hop organizations and coalitions, with an emphasis on voter registration with youth. This organizing began in 2004, with the campaign in support of John Kerry and continued to the campaign of Barack Obama in 2008.

Unfortunately, the energy and activism amongst youth that led to the election of Obama, drastically declined after the election. People have not honestly come to terms with the failure to continue political work and organizing, but he also notes that young people in particular are less likely to put faith in the political process since it has not done what people worked so hard for.

Bakari said that now young people are organizing in different ways and mentions the role that youth have played in the Occupy Wall Street movement. However, the message has to be more than just protest, it needs a political savvy that energizes people to fight for what they need to today!

Kitwana did not address in detail the role of Hip Hop in politics today, but during the Q&A he did respond to a question about the importance of having a cultural shift from the corporate music industry produced Hip Hop and the grassroots Hip Hop.

Bakari said that there are more and more Hip Hop artists who are not only operating independently of the commercial music industry, they are also involved in local grassroots politics across the country. He noted how groups like Industry ears are not only exposing the racist and classist elements of the dominant commercial culture, they are organizing around media justice at the local level and in terms of policy.

Having read Kitwana’s books I will say he is a better writer than speaker. However, his message today was valuable and he did not cheapen the memory of King with clichés and a blind call to support Barack Obama without a critical eye.