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Printer-Friendly ModeHip-hop's role in media addressed
February 13, 2006 —
Rosa Clemente focused on political activism within the hip-hop generation Tuesday in the Alan Ott Auditorium during her lecture, "It's Bigger than Hip Hop: Political Activism & the Hip-Hop Generation."
Motivating our young generation to simply "Wake up!" was Clemente's main point. She invited everyone to take a stand against unfair politics and used examples such as hip-hop music and graffiti art for ways in which the youth can help.
"The American government is something very different than American citizens," Clemente said. "Bush is draining our resources and we need to take a stand."
Clemente spoke of many popular influential hip-hop activists, such as NWA and Kanye West. She commended their lyrics and mentioned the "George Bush does not care about black people" statement West made on public television shortly after Hurricane Katrina left its damage.
"Artistry needs to respond to the movement," Clemente said. "The movement won't come to the artistry."
Clemente said she feels there are not nearly enough young people questioning authority and seeing the big picture. Too many people are listening to the same 10 songs on the radio. The "wrong" kind of hip-hop is being broadcasted, she said, adding that she considers radio simply "criminal" for the hip-hop culture.
Clemente urged the students of SVSU to wake up and learn about the roots of hip-hop culture and find ways in which to keep that culture alive in today's society. She added that she wants the youth to find their political conscious and act on it in a way that the rest of the youth will listen.
Rosa Clemente has been traveling internationally to perform her presentations and pursue her career as a journalist. She has received many awards for her work and has appeared on CNN, CSPAN, and Democracy Now.