Hip Hop is a culture of the youth. Those who have grown old with Hip Hop over the years know this culture and community keeps our spirits young. When I brought Jeff Chang in 2010 to Breakin’ The Law in Hong Kong to talk about his book Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, he said Hip Hop was created by youth to say, “I’m here, I have a voice and I matter.”
The 2016 Presidential Election is upon us and I believe as a Hip Hop community we must say, “We’re here, we have a voice and we matter.” I will not go through each candidate, propose possible write-ins, or tell you who to vote for. I’m simply making a request and providing a poem as payment.
A REQUEST
I ask you to vote on Tuesday, November 8.
You can find information about voting locations nation wide here and check your registration status: http://www.canivote.org/
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A POEM
For our warriors out there making moves, speaking truth to power and manifesting sacred in these troubled times:
Oh say can you see
Why some bodies don’t want to be signing this song no more
When fist over our head is replacing hand over heart
In an effort to claim justice, peace and love for the people
When taking a knee speaks louder than standing up on a football field
We are wounded but warriors rise up non-the-less
We must win
For our future generations
At Standing Rock there are protectors
The newspapers still reads protesters
There is no rest
And the best of us stay working no matter how weary
We believe the earth knows and the universe is with us
Mni Wiconi
Water is Life
And while we push back
The dominant narrative holds tight
It begs us not to shift too quick
It holds guns in our faces
Sacred water hostage
Launches constant waves of attack in the form of bullets, bruises, mass arrests
And fucked up Halloween costumes that seek to make light of this heavy violence
It says “No, I will not let go.”
It says, “Let’s make America great again.”
The question:
For whom does this narrative protect and privilege?
In these times
Live feeds get blurred
Interference runs rampant
The dominant networks won’t show the truth
Because seeing the front lines is dangerous to the domination
But our frequencies will flourish
And when we can’t be there
We watch, share, mobilize where we are
So that our voices bind together
And amplify
The domination is loosing it’s grip
It knows the counter narrative is growing
It knows it is no longer dominant
Because the counter is becoming common
The counter is ticking
The narrative is flickering
Your regularly scheduled program is being interrupted
We are moving the needle of history
For the record of this country must be transformed
Like scratch
Underneath the surface
The groundwater is swelling
It says, “Believe in our collective power like billions of rain drops become a roaring river.”
It says, “La Cultura Cura, your ancestors are with you and your sacred cultures will help heal us.”
It says, “Do not lose your ways, pray and protect the way your elders taught you to.”
It says, “I am here with you. I thank you. I love you. I am you. We are love.”
– El La Katrina
