Cynthia McKinney Presents Hip-Hop Forum at Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference

Congresswoman

Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) will host a Hip-Hop forum at this year’s Congressional

Black Caucus Legislative Conference.The

Hip-Hop Powershop, scheduled for Sept. 7, will feature a panel that will discuss

gang summits and industry manipulation of the true message and meaning of Hip-Hop

artists. Panelists

include DC Hip-Hop artists Asheru and Head-Roc as well as Rev. Yearwood

(Hip-Hop Caucus), Jared Ball (University of Maryland, Hip-Hop historian, Blackademics

on WPFW), Lisa Frager (Industry Ears, Hip-Hop media expert) and former Crips and

Gangster Disciple gangmembers. The

event is one of a series "braintrust forums" McKinney will host that

will examine critical current issues facing African-Americans and the entire country.

Other

forums will address past victims of COINTELPRO abuses, and their renewal in many

forms since 9/11 as well as discuss the award-winning films American Blackout

and Sir! No Sir!American

Blackout

documents Black voter disenfranchisement and voter fraud in national

and local elections, while Sir! No Sir! Looks at the hidden history of

GI and veteran resistance that ended the war in Vietnam.An

outspoken critic of the Bush Administration, McKinney spearheaded a national investigation

into the 2000 election voting irregularities. Last

year, she introduced House Resolution 4210, a new bill that calls for the United

States government to release all documents it has collected on slain rapper Tupac

Shakur.HR

4210 calls for "the creation of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Records Collection

at the National Archives; and a second repository at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center

for the Arts in Stone Mountain, Georgia."The

Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference will be Sept. 6 through 9 at

the Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt Vernon Pl., NW.The

following is a schedule of events and list of participating panelists:The

New COINTELPROSept. 7, 1 p.m. – 2:50 p.m., Room 143 CPanelists: Lillie

Coney, Electronic Privacy Information Center, EddieConway, COINTELPRO victim,

Bill Goodman, Center for ConstitutionalRights, Dick Gregory, COINTELPRO victim,

activist, author of Callus onMy Soul, Tom Devine, Government Accountability

Office, Kate Martin,Center on National Security Studies, J.E. McNeil, Center

on Conscienceand War, Chuck Michaels, ACLU Baltimore, MD, author of No

GreaterThreat, Patrick Radden Keefe, author of ChatterHip-Hop

PowershopSept. 7, 4:00 p.m. – 5:50 p.m., Room 144 BCPanelists: Rev. Yearwood,

Hip Hop Caucus, Jared Ball, University ofMaryland, Hip Hop historian, Blackademics

on WPFW, Crown, a Y.G. fromHarlem Crips, Lisa Frager, Industry Ears, Hip Hop

media expert, Asheru,DC, Hip Hop artist, educator, G$, formerly Gangster Disciple

Nation,Head-Roc, Mayor of DC Hip Hop – performingAmerican

BlackoutSeptember 9, 11 a.m. – 12:50 p.m., Room 144 AModerator: Cedric

Muhammad, BlackElectorate.comPanelists: Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Ian Inaba,

director, Steven Freemanand Joel Bleifuss, co-authors of Was the 2004 Presidential

ElectionStolen?Sir!

No Sir!Sept. 9, 2006, 2 p.m. – 3:50 p.m., 144 AModerator: Cedric Muhammad,

BlackElectorate.comPanelists: Sgt. Kevin Benderman, Gulf War veteran, Iraq

war objector,Monica Benderman, military family member, David Cline, Vietnam

VeteransAgainst the War, in the film, Greg Payton, Vietnam Veteran, in the

film,Demond Mullins, Iraq veteran, The Ground Truth film and GarrettReppenhagen,

Iraq Veterans Against the War.