Democrats Launch Congressional Hip-Hop Task Force With Aid Of BMAC

Democrats announced the creation of the Congressional Hip-Hop Power and Justice Task Force on Wednesday (February 14). Representatives Jamaal Bowman, Hank Johnson, André Carson and Delia Ramirez led the charge with support from the Black Music Action Coalition.

“Black Music Action Coalition’s mission is to work with business leaders and lawmakers to utilize the music industry’s influence to impact federal policies that address racial and social justice,” BMAC co-founder Willie “Prophet” Stiggers said. “The RAP Act is just one example of how aligning BMAC’s efforts in tandem with the Congressional Hip-Hop Task Force is a natural extension of Black Music Action Coalition’s work supporting solutions to mass incarceration, justice reform, and economic hardships disparately impacting marginalized communities … BMAC looks forward to centralizing our energy with the first-ever Hip-Hop Power and Justice Task Force to activate legislation that protects the Black community.”

Bowman said he would not be a congressman without Hip-Hop, which was why it meant so much to him to launch the task force. The task force aimed to work with members of the Hip-Hop community to enact meaningful legislation.

“Hip-Hop has ingrained itself in our culture and continuously called upon us to fight for civil and racial justice,” Bowman said. “Hip-Hop is why I support the movement for reparations, an end to discrimination and corporate greed in the housing industry, and access to healthcare and economic opportunity for everyone. That is why I am proud to stand with my colleagues in bringing the advocacy and ideology of Hip-Hop to Congress in this moment and continue our urgent calls for peace and justice across the world.”

The Hip-Hop Caucus backed the Congressional Hip-Hop Task Force in addition to BMAC. The nonprofit’s CEO Rev Yearwood Jr. believed the task force would help address issues disproportionately facing Black, Latino and Indigenous communities.