Open Letter to
Hiphop America
September 2010
Peace to all of
you. I am writing this letter from Brooklyn, New York, where I am currently a
Democratic candidate for Congress. For those who do not know, there are 435
United States Congresspersons in America, and 100 United States Senators, all
based in Washington, D.C. when not in their home districts, and all of them
together represent the 300 million Americans living in our nation. That is
power. The power to provide resources, services, information, jobs, and loans
for small businesses. The power to help people to help themselves.
That is why I
am running for Congress. I come from a single-mother led household, I had no
father figure whatsoever, and grew up in the kind of poverty, violence, and
confusion I would not wish on anyone. But a few things definitely saved and
empowered my life. One was a belief in God, instilled by mother. Second was
definitely my moms and her giving me a love of education, in spite of she
herself only having a grade school education. And finally it was definitely
music and culture, especially hiphop as I came of age in the 1970s and through
the 1980s.
I was a dancer
and I tagged my nicknamekepo1any and everywhere in my native Jersey City. I
was at all the famous hiphop clubs of the 1980s, like Union Square, Funhouse,
and The Rooftop. I helped to produce, along with youth activists like Sister
Souljah, those big outdoor rap concerts on 125th Street in Harlem in
the late 1980s. A writer since I was a child, I was a founding staff member at
Vibe, and interviewed Tupac Shakur more than any other journalist when he was
alive. And I was the curator of the very first exhibit on hiphop culture, at
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
I am hiphop. And
I am also a public servant and activist for people, all people. For the past 25
years, in fact, since I was a youth.
That is why I
am running for Congress. Not only would I be the first true hiphop head in
Congress, but I also would be bringing a fresh take on leadership, blending the
best of grassroots politics with Washington, D.C. maneuvering, all to that
boom-bap beat.
And, as dead prez once famously said, this is actually bigger than hiphop. This is about my
being a leader, a bridge-builder, and all of us weaned on hiphop music and
culture understanding the power of this, the most dominant art form of the past
30 years.
If not us, then
who?
Respectfully,
Kevin Powelll
Go to www.kevinpowell.net to contribute $1, $5,
or $10 to Kevin Powell 4 Congress now by clicking DONATE at the site
