So grateful to have presented an incredible evening of programming at The Battery in SF, featuring Khafre Jay and Marlon Richardson, AKA UnLearn The World.  They represented Hip Hop For Change, an organization that uses Hip Hop culture to educate and advocate for social justice in the Bay Area, bridging social gaps, and helping kids find a stronger sense of identity through their culture.

Creating a unique program for the evening, I was able to bring in DJ Ren to spin in the Garden, as well as feature three wineries purposefully chosen as they are owned by people of color, with two even being women-owned.  To be clear, it’s not so much about bringing attention to that as an another way to promote the binary “us and them” narrative, but it’s about bringing the right attention.  It’s hard to finish the race first if you didn’t get the same start time.  And the wine industry is just one such example.

Albeit limited in live streaming quality, below you can watch a few highlights from the presentation. Click here to view the entire lecture.

Opening Remarks Video    |   UnLearn The World Intro Video    |   Khafre Jay Intro

“Right now, three companies own around ninety percent of the Hip Hop’s depiction. We all see the homogeneous imagery that is all too common in popular media. Violence, misogyny, and materialism is the norm on TV and radio, and Hip Hop seems to be almost something we should want to keep far away from our kids. But for so many people, Hip Hop isn’t just music; it’s a culture. It’s how some people walk, talk, dress, paint, speak, dance, and exist in the community.” - Khafre Jay, Hip Hop For Change Founder

Hip Hop For Change is an organization like no other. In six years, they’ve built a movement that is indeed powered by the community. An organized platform to engage the masses to advocate social justice and to push education in a voice that appeals to most of your kids already. They have taught K-12 classes that engage youth in positive and healthy self-expression. Hip Hop artists are trained to become educators in the classroom, getting them certified and trauma-informed. They’ve employed over 500 people from their community with a living wage to be grassroots activists and having over 50 thousand conversations a year about social justice issues.

For more information on the organization or to donate, go to hiphopforchange.org.