Using Hip Hop to Educate 50,000+ Youth

In this episode of the Greater Than Zero Podcast, Joseph speaks with Marlon Richardson, Executive Director of Hip Hop For Change, Inc.

Based in Oakland, this nonprofit uses grassroots activism and hip hop culture to educate about socio economic injustices and advocate solutions.

For over 12 years, Hip Hop For Change has reclaimed hip hop as a vehicle for education, empowerment, and employment, reaching more than 50,000 participants with programs that inspire personal growth, social justice, and workforce development.


Timestamps:

00:00 – What is Hip Hop For Change and why was it created?04:15 – How did Marlon Richardson step into this movement?09:30 – Why is hip hop an effective tool for education and social justice?

16:20 – What challenges do grassroots organizations like Hip Hop For Change face?

22:55 – How are youth and marginalized communities impacted by their programs?

29:40 – How does art and culture help dismantle harmful stereotypes?

35:10 – What can listeners do right now to support Hip Hop For Change?


Learn More & Support Hip Hop For Change

Website: www.hiphopforchange.org

Donate: Become a monthly donor – https://hiphopforchange.networkforgood.com/projects/125291-become-a-monthly-donor-today

Phone: (510) 350-7730

Email: unlearn@hiphopforchange.org

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hiphop4change

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hip-hop-for-change

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/61568529146858/

YouTube: www.youtube.com/hiphopforchange

Featured Organization
Hip Hop For Change

Mission

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.

About

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.​

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.​

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.​

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.

Music
Youth Development

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