Hip Hop Caucus : Respect My Vote 2010

Just got this info in an email from the Hip Hop Caucus:

Here is the basic rundown, which you might not have heard yet. The midterm elections are happening this November 2, 2010. During the midterm elections everyone will vote for their Representatives in Congress. Additionally, 37 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be up for election. There are also important Governor's elections in many states, and country and city elections everywhere.

That's why the Hip Hop Caucus is running their 2010 Respect My Vote campaign. Find out how to participate here.

Here's the PSA featuring NBA Veteran and ESPN ABC Analyst Jalen Rose:

Hip Hop Caucus & Drake host Stop Offshore Drilling Rally @ 9:30 Club this Sunday

Words from Drake:



The Sunday, June 13 Rally was initially going to be held right outside of Washington, DC's 9:30 Club, starting at 8pm. However due to safety/security concerns the 8pm Rally will now be held inside of the 9:30 Club - and you must have a ticket to the concert to participate in the Rally - and the show is sold out. Bummer!

However, the Hip Hop Caucus has another way you can participate:

The "Stop Offshore Drilling!" Mixtape will be released on Sunday.

So if you want to be a part, no matter where you are, host a mixtape listening party. Email us at team@hiphopcaucus.org and we will send you an embargoed copy of the mixtape for you to use at your party, as well as some information you can share with your guests about getting involved to take a stand against Big Oil. - head over and pick up the “Stop Offshore Drilling Now!” Mixtape.

Hip Hop Caucus' Clean Energy Now! Bus Tour @ US Capitol Tuesday! Be There!

Just received a special request to attend this particular event. I'd be there if I could! Can you make it?


photo: Gloria Reuben playing Jeanie Boulet on ER

A Hip Hop Caucus CLEAN ENERGY NOW! BUS TOUR Washington, DC Event

FEATURING: Rev. Yearwood, President of Hip Hop Caucus, Actress Gloria Reuben, US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, hip hop artists, DJ Biz Markie, Alliance for Climate Protection CEO Maggie Fox, and youth activists and performers

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 24th, 11:30 am
US Capitol Building Reflecting Pool
3rd St. and Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC

The event is free and open to the public.


photo: Columbia, MO Tour stop

For more info about Gloria's participation in change movements, go here. I love Causecast. If you are on Facebook then I highly suggest becoming a fan - they share some great stuff!


photo: Bobby Kennedy and Gloria, 2009.

We Can Make It Happen. Coming to a Campus Near You!

Received the below email this morning from the Hip Hop Caucus. HeadCount is a partner of the Clean Energy Now! Tour -


Nicole,

The Hip Hop Caucus along with the Alliance for Climate Protection's Repower America campaign and a diverse coalition of partners, is launching the Hip Hop Caucus Clean Energy Now! Tour today.

The Hip Hop Caucus Clean Energy Now! Tour is a shared effort that will amplify the voices of young people and communities of color fighting for a clean energy future.

We're holding a variety of events - including community rallies, roundtables on college campuses, tours of clean energy job sites, and musical events in the below communities. Get event details here.

2/18: New Orleans, LA
2/19: Little Rock, AR
2/20: Columbia, MO
2/21: St. Louis, MO
2/21: Indianapolis, IN
2/22: Indianapolis, IN
2/22: Bloomington, IN
2/22: Columbus, OH
2/23: Washington DC
2/24: Washington, DC

Follow us for the next seven days as we post videos, articles, photos and news from the road!

It's time for clean energy now, we can make it happen.

For Future Generations,
Rev Yearwood

Hip Hop Caucus Conference Call on Haiti

photo: US Congresswoman Barbara Lee

Nearly 700 people joined a great Hip Hop Caucus-sponsored Haiti Action conference call this past Monday, organized by the Hip Hop Caucus.

You can listen to the archived recording of the conference call below.

Rev Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus was joined by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus; Nicole Lee, Executive Director of TransAfrica; Dr. Ron Daniels head of Institute of the Black World 21st Century Foundation; Rappers David Banner and MC Lyte; Omarosa of the Apprentice.


Find more music like this on The Hip Hop Caucus

After listening to the call you can take action on this Hip Hop Caucus' sponsored website.

Recap of yesterday's Youth Clean Energy Forum @ the White House

Yeah! Yesterday's Youth Clean Energy Forum made CNN's list of top political tweets of the week! It's #7!

Here's a summary of the best highlights from the event, that I've come across:

From the Hip Hop Caucus Website:

In the third and final segment of the Clean Energy Economy Stakeholder Briefing with Youth Leaders, top White House staff on clean energy listen to reports back from several breakout sessions focused on improving engagement between the White House and youth leaders. See reports from the breakout sessions here:




To watch the rest of the video footage from the afternoon's events visit the White House video website, here.


Then check out this fantastic blog post written by HeadCount's Executive Director, Andy Bernstein who attended the event.


Here's the post from the US State Department about their attendance at the event.


The write up from the Roosevelt Institute is here. I liked this part:

While there has been expressed disappointment with some of the back and forth between administration officials and forum participants, this event clearly demonstrates the Obama White House’s commitment to engaging with young Americans on the most challenging issues that our country faces today. Never did the Bush White House convene such a summit, and even the Clinton administration rarely provided this kind of access to Cabinet Secretaries, department heads, and other important and trusted advisors to the President.


Here's the report from Tomasso of Campus Progress. I like this part of his post:

We can help free them from the shackles of King Coal. This forum was a great first step and opened the door for more collaboration between the White House and young activists. What it also did was demonstrate that the efforts and tactics we have used up to now have been extremely successful. As Jessy Tolkan (always the rebel rouser) explains, we must ratchet up our energy and our efforts to change the Senate just like we changed the White House.


A summary prepared by two young US Department of Interior staffers who attended the event - Nate Hundt and Jonathan Jourdane.


Also check out the blog post "Youth Climate Movement Grows Up… In a Good Way" written by Morgan, who also attended the event.

Morgan was recently a senior at Williams College. There, he was a Chinese major, student body co-president and one of the leaders of Thursday Night Group, the campus climate action group. Since graduating, Morgan worked on a community energy efficiency campaign in western Mass, co-directed NH SPROG for the SSC and worked on Power Vote in Cleveland for 2 months. He then left for China for 2 months where his interests have been turned to for-profit models of change and specifically solar hot water systems.

To get more updates from Morgan you can follow him on Twitter.

To get more updates from HeadCount you can follow the organization on Twitter.


And in terms of moving forward with the movement, check out this great open letter to John Carson, the field director for the Obama campaign and is now the chief of staff at the Council on Environmental Quality, who moderated the White House event. It was written by Zachary Stark-MacMillan of the Cascade Climate Network.

Also check out Jessy Tolkan's summary of the day's events, here. Her post includes this slideshow, with photos taken by Alec Loorz and Gabe Elsner.

White House to Meet with Youth Climate Leaders on Wednesday!

photo: Congressman Ed Markey, Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, held a special Congressional briefing with student leaders on Monday, March 2, 2009 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building - "Youth Climate: Green Jobs, Clean Futures."


Jessy Tolkan, Executive Director of the Energy Action Coalition, published a great post today, Voices from Hopenhagen, about youth involvement in the climate movement.

From her post:

In March, 12,000 young people descended on Washington for our Power Shift 09 summit, and told leaders that we want a bold and just climate and energy future. This fall, thousands took the same message back to their local communities for Regional Power Shift 09 summits in 11 states. On the year anniversary of the historical 2008 presidential election, we launched the “It’s Game Time, Obama!” initiative in which more than 50,000 actions were taken to ask the President to meet with youth leaders, give an address to the nation outlining his strategy and attend Copenhagen in person. All of this work culminates Wednesday in a meeting at the White House with senior officials to discuss our vision for next year and how we will reach consensus and achieve the goals we set for ourselves.


From the Energy Action Coalition's "It's Game Time, Obama!" Campaign website:

The White House has arranged for a meeting December 2nd that will bring together emerging young leaders from non-profits, businesses, and community groups along with experts from federal agencies, members of the Cabinet, and White House officials to engage in a dialogue. President Obama has not yet indicated if he will attend personally, but will be represented by his team.


In attendance at Wednesday's meeting will be Andy Bernstein, Co-Founder & Executive Director of HeadCount. Andy blogged about it today, on the HeadCount blog.

From Andy's blog post:

Last week, while on the way to see Phish in Philadelphia, I got an unexpected email from…the White House.

"We would like to invite you to join us for a Clean Energy Economy Forum to discuss the important role young leaders have in creating and sharing this opportunity..."

A few more emails started coming in. The next was from a key environmental group, the Energy Action Coalition, inviting me to a brainstorming and strategy session of youth-oriented leaders attending the White House meeting, which is Wednesday afternoon.

Read more about HeadCount's involvement in the climate change movement here.


From Jessy's November 25th post "Attn Leaders: Share Your Ideas With Obama at Wednesday's Youth Clean Energy Forum" that appeared on the Huffington Post:

The event will be hosted at the White House on Wednesday from 4 - 7pm EST, and will also be webcast to young people across the country at: www.whitehouse.gov/live.


You can not only watch the live feed, but you can also participate.

According to the Consequence09 website:

Join the webcast of the forum and participate in the live discussion. Throughout the event, the White House will take questions and feedback from the Facebook Live Chat.

The forum will be webcast live on the White House website at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/live or on Facebook with a live discussion board at: http://apps.facebook.com/whitehouselive/

From Jessy's Huffington Post post:

If you'd like us to ask a question at the meeting on your behalf, just send us a tweet @powershift09 and add the hashtag #ClimateQs. We will do our best to incorporate your perspectives into the day's events.

@PowerShift09 circulated this tweet on November 26th:

White House to meet with youth climate leaders next Wed!! @jessytolkan asks for your questions: http://bit.ly/8mvGtX #ClimateQs

Pete Griffin (@WhatUpPete), Campaign Director @ Energy Action Coalition, circulated this re-tweet today:

RT @PowerShift09: Don't forget to send us your #ClimateQs for President Obama's team at our Wednesday White House mtg!

Finally, according to Consequence09's website, Power Shift's It's Game Time, Obama! Campaign is encouraging people to host and attend house parties during the event. To advertise or locate an event near you, check this page.


Following the event - Wed night, December 2nd - everyone is invited to this celebration sponsored by the Energy Action Coalition, the Hip Hop Caucus, and the youth climate movement.

Celebrate our collective efforts to get our carbon down and put our country on a sustainable path towards a clean energy future now! Or ... simply join us for a good time on a Wednesday night.

Carbon Get Down Party
@ the Park at 14th
920 14th St NW (between K and Eye Streets)
Washington, DC 20005

No RSVP required, no charge at the door, complimentary hor d’oeuvres from 7pm to 9pm.

Launch of "Green The Block" - Big Success

Leaders from all over the country went to Washington, D.C. this past weekend for the Congressional Black Caucus Annual forum.

They also joined Green For All and the Hip Hop Caucus at the launch of their new campaign to engage urban America in the clean-energy economy: Green The Block.

Some of the VIP's who appeared on the red carpet included:

* Rep. Donna Edwards, Congresswoman of MD
* Actor Hosea Sanchez
* Jeff Johnson
* Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of TXWyclef, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr.
* Charles Smith, NBA Retired Players Association
* Heather Hudson, Mayor of Greenville
* Lauren Von Der Pool, Celebrity Chef
* Wyclef Jean
* Rep. Yvette Clark, Congresswoman of Brooklyn, NY
* Ben Jealous of the NAACP
* Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins of Green for All
* Reverend Lennox Yearwood, Jr. of Hip Hop Caucus
* Reggie Love, Obama’s Personal Aide

"Green The Block" National Launch Party Sept 26 in Washington, DC

photo: Wyclef Jean
The Green the Block campaign will officially kick off with Wyclef & Friends at the Green the Block Launch Party after the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference Gala, tomorrow (September 26th).

On August 4th, the Hip Hop Caucus and Green For All publically announced Green the Block from the White House.

Green the Block is a partnership between Green for All and the Hip Hop Caucus to educate and mobilize low-income, traditionally under-served communities to ensure they have the resources and platforms needed to access the benefits and opportunities of the growing clean energy economy.

On September 11, you all organized 94 Green the Block events in 24 states as a part of the first National Service and Remembrance Day.

This Saturday, we will be rolling out the red carpet and introducing Green the Block to the nation, with our gracious host Wyclef, Members of Congress, and friends from around the country.

If you are in or near Washington DC, join us. The Launch Party begins at 8pm and is at Lux Lounge (649 New York Ave). All the info is here.

If you can't join us check out the Green The Block website, get involved, and take action today.

For Future Generations,
Rev Yearwood
Hip Hop Caucus

United We Serve & Hip Hop Caucus

Opportunity Corps is about increasing service among young people in our urban communities.

Through the Hip Hop Caucus Online Community you can volunteer from anywhere in the country. As a volunteer you can determine how much time you can give, and also let us know what skills and interests you would like to lend to the process.

Sign up here, today! You could win a free ticket to the Rock the Bells Concert this weekend at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, located just outside of Washington, DC.

Sunday's Rock the Bells Scheduled Line-up:
NAS • Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley • The Roots • Common • Busta Rhymes • Big Boi • Reflection Eternal: Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek • Tech N9ne • RZA • Raekwon • K'Naan • Sage Francis • Slaughterhouse • Buckshot • M.O.P. • Necro • Slum Village • Eyedea and Abilities • Evidence and Alchemist • The Knux • Psycho Realm • Mystik Journeymen • Chali 2Na • Mickey Factz • B Dolan • Tabi Bonney

Hosted by KRS-One, Supernatural, Murs & Pete Rock

About the Hip Hop Caucus:
At the Hip Hop Caucus, we work to organize and engage the Hip Hop Generation, those born after 1964, on the most pressing issues of our time. Utilizing the power of celebrities and media, combined with cutting-edge technology, we use issue campaigns, events, voter registration and education to ensure that the voices of the Hip Hop Generation are heard in the democratic process. We also place an emphasis on the empowerment of women as our 700,000+ national online membership list is 60% women.

"I'm Heading for DC; Anybody Feel Me?" - Young Jezzy

In addition to this video, also check out this awesome Politico story, Hip Hop Caucus engages Capitol Hill.

According to the Politico story -

Organizers are working with Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) to gather support for legislation fighting climate change — and singers Solange Knowles and Keyshia Cole have both signed on to help, through the "Green the Block"campaign.

From the Hip Hop Caucus website -

Green the Block is the Hip Hop Caucus' campaign to address urban poverty and climate change, at the same time. Through grassroots activities and celebrity involvement we are working to create a strong green economy, locally and globally.

Climate change and urban poverty in the U.S. and abroad acutely affect low-income communities and communities of color. The cost of inaction to solve global warming is too high.

More than planting a tree in the hood, Green the Block is about educating diverse communities on the issues related to climate change and its relevance to their lives, engaging them in the green movement through policy and service, and introducing them to the Green Economy.

There are three pillars of Green the Block Campaign.
They are:
Advocacy
Green Jobs
Conservation

While you're at it, check out Young Jeezy’s "My President is Black" which was in heavy rotation last summer:)