ABOUT US
We are the revolution you have been waiting for.
MISSION STATEMENT: HipHopForChange, Inc. uses grassroots activism to educate people about socio-economic injustices and advocate solutions through Hip Hop culture. We raise funds for local causes that enrich marginalized and historically oppressed communities.
WHO WE ARE
To enhance opportunities for marginalized people in the Bay Area, HipHopForChange Inc (HH4C) is reclaiming Hip Hop culture as a vehicle for education, empowerment, and cultural innovation. Out of displacement and neglect, inner-city neighborhoods birthed Hip Hop as an outlet for oppressed people to address socio-economic injustices and validate their experiences through music, artistic expression, and storytelling; however, this beautiful cultural art form has been co-opted.
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White Media has historically portrayed Black and Brown communities through skewed frames and stereotypes by centering gross misrepresentations of our experiences and humanity. These media giants have used consumer capitalism and colonization tools to dictate the tone, narratives, and mediums by which people of color can adequately and safely express themselves. This unethical cultural hijacking has usurped Hip Hop's artistry, innovation, and power, caricaturing the culture as hyper-violent and hyper-sexual, promoting criminality, toxic masculinity, and materialism.
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We provide solutions through Hip Hop culture by implementing grassroots organizing, arts programming, and educational events to advance our mission. We work with state and local partners such as the City of Oakland, the California Arts Council, the Zellerbach Foundation, the Sierra Club, and others that recognize the importance of arts and culture in POC communities.
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We advocate for systemic change rooted in our community, owning the means of our creative production, amplifying our voices, and taking back our narrative. We recognize the colonial systems that use white supremacy to maintain practices that undermine communities of color by denying access to the opportunities needed to secure self-determination and liberty. Our core values stand with diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our goal is to advocate for all marginalized communities, including POC, LGBTQAI, Indigenous/Tribes, Immigrants, disabled bodies, poverty-stricken, systems impacted, and others affected by colonialism in all its forms.
THE WORK
WE DO
As an organization, we address the injustices of misrepresentation through education and community building. Hip Hop For Change has always used its platform to empower people who identify with Hip Hop culture, and give them a safe space to express their truest voices, selves, and culture. As leaders of the community, we provide positive representations of Hip Hop Culture that our youth and the public can draw from instead of relying on mainstream media. In addition to that, we also educate people on how Hip Hop can be utilized as a tool for social justice and ending white supremacy.
We make the effort to promote socially conscious Hip Hop that more accurately depicts the beauty and diversity of POC communities. In doing so, we hope to shift the narrative and reclaim the culture that corporate media has stolen from our people. Our movement is grounded in the root values of Hip Hop culture: peace, love, unity, and having fun.
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We are disruptors. We are artists. We will use art to disrupt society and demand justice! This is our Hip Hop Revolution!
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THE PROBLEM:
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COOPTATION OF HIP HOP CULTURE
Corporate media presents Hip Hop music and Culture as a grotesque array of negative stereotypes that embrace criminality, sexism, homophobia, gross materialism, and domination culture. These false representations of Black people are rooted in white supremacy and serve to justify police brutality, systemic racism, and the criminalization of BIPOC communities. Since most people learn about other cultures through the media, the images they internalize by consuming corporate Hip Hop leads them to believe that Black people are and should be treated like second-class citizens.
90%
of the entire music market is controlled by:
3
corporations: Sony Music Group, Universal Group, and Warner Music Group.
80%
of Hip Hop's consumer base is made up of white listeners ages 13 to 34
Corporate cooptation of Hip Hop culture has created a situation where our community’s platform for self-expression has been eclipsed and replaced with a limited, insulting narrative that affects our understanding of what true Hip Hop is, and what it can be. Our culture has been stolen, repackaged, and sold back to us. This limits our cultural efficacy, as well as our ability, freedom, and initiative to talk about and organize around issues that affect our community. Our children have grown accustomed to being consumers of an appropriated version of Hip Hop that is devoid of its roots.
THE SOLUTION:
HIP HOP FOR CHANGE
PEACE
LOVE
UNITY
HAVING FUN
Our organization teaches the world about true Hip Hop Culture that is rooted in peace, love, unity, and having fun. We utilize Hip Hop as a vehicle for social justice and education. We are building a base of self-determination, where the community controls the cultural narratives, values, and means of production. And we won’t stop until we take the game back!
CHECK OUT OUR HIP HOP EDUCATION PROGRAM!
THE TEAM
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DIVERSE LEADERSHIP
Hip Hop For Change prides itself on being an organization that goes beyond just “diversity and inclusion.” Our leadership team is composed of people from all different backgrounds and cultures. Not to mention, BIPOC women sit at the very front of our table and influence every decision that this organization makes. We are community leaders and activists united by our passion for Hip Hop and social justice, and we are committed to ending white supremacy through the work that we do.
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Join the fight for our culture!
