1
Hip-Hop Town Hall Discussion (3-13-07) Transcript
Will Patterson: Good evening.
Collectively: Good evening.
Will Patterson: I gotta have something better than that. Good evening!
Collectively:Good evening!
Will Patterson:Welcome to what we consider the absolute bomb event tonight, as we look at a phenomenal film by a phenomenal filmmaker, Byron Hurt. You’re participating in something that is quite fun, quite nurturing, quite rewarding. It’s the Youth Media Workshop. The Youth Media Workshop is a concept very similar to the children’s television workshop. You all are familiar with Sesame Street and Electric Company, and things like that. Well, this whole idea of youth media workshop is a spin-off of that particular idea, where you can bring in universities to work with issues around media, media literacy, and working with young people in that particular capacity. Here locally, as someone that grew up with WILL and the Children’s Television Workshop, the whole idea behind this was, again, to look at issues that were impacting young people, the hip-hop generation, my generation being on the front end of that, born in 1965, growing up, again, with [inaudible] programs and media playing a critical role in those African [inaudible]. We know that hip-hop today is still a media-based culture, and that more importantly hip-hop is something that is—that the media is something that hip-hop doesn’t always control. And so, we’re about making certain that in today’s era, where the media tools are best, that we’re exposing young people to take control of their media images by empowering them with the necessary tools to collect data, to tell an appropriate story about their experiences, about the communities and who they are. There are several young people around here, as you will see. This taping—this will be a show that’s gonna be airing on WILL in May, and one specific date will come with that. Before I go on, Kimberlie Kranich, please stand up, because this is my partner in crime.
[applause]
Will Patterson:The young people, you need to know who they are in terms of who’s behind the camera. Elaine, will you please show your hand.
[applause]
Will Patterson: We have Ken.
[applause]
Will Patterson:And our master teacher Shameem Rakha from FranklinMiddle School, Shameem Rakha.
[applause]
Will Patterson: At this time, I’m gonna bring in the man of the hour to help bring up into light regarding his work, Mr. Byron Hurt. Byron Hurt is the New York-based producer of the award-winning documentary and underground classic, I Am a Man: Black Masculinity in American and Moving Memories. The Black senior video yearbook. Hurt is a former NortheasternUniversity football star and long-time gender-bias prevention educator. For more than 5 years, he was the associate director and founding member of the Mentors in Violence Prevention Program. The leading conflicts [inaudible] and domestic violence prevention initiative for professional athletes. He is also the former associate director of the First Gender Violence Prevention Program in the United States Marine Corps. In 1999, Hurt was the recipient of the Equity Green Public Service Fellowship, an award given to ambitious young Africans devoted to creating social change in their communities. Over the past decade, he has lectured at more than 100 college campuses and trained thousands of young men and women on issues related to gender, race, sex, violence, music, and the visual media. Y’all give it up big time for Byron Hurt.
[applause]
BH:Thank you. Thank you. I don’t get no music?
[laughter]
BH:Thank you. First, I just wanna thank everybody who put this event together. It’s just really a privilege and an honor to be able to make a film and then actually have people come out and watch it. You know, outside of your grandmother, cousins, relatives, and things like that. So, it really is a privilege to be an independent filmmaker who has an audience. So, I wanna thank Kimberlie for putting the wheels in motion, everybody at WILL-TV, everybody at the Youth Media Workshop. You know, I had an opportunity to actually sit down and break ground with everybody involved in the organization this afternoon, and we had a really good, interesting conversation. And I’m just very impressed with the workshop, the type of things that they are doing, all of the young students who are part of it are doing. And I hope that you take full advantage of the opportunities and resources that you have in front of you because there are people, you know, here who are really, really looking out for you and looking out for your future and want you to be successful. So, I’m proud to see what’s going on. I wish I’d had this type of opportunity back in high school, you know, people working on cameras, and you know, working on television sets. That’s a really big thing. So, you are to be commended for your work in reaching out to the young people here in this community. That’s a big thing. So, thank you very much for doing that.
[applause]
BH:And this whole thing was initiated at a conference. This whole idea of having this event was initiated at a conference in Washington, D.C., and I was approached and I was given one of these sweatshirts right on the spot, and a folder and information about this organization. And I was told that this event was gonna happen. So, thank you all for coming out. I just want to give you a little background about this particular film. Before I do that, I also want to thank Aisha Durham, too, for bringing me out to dinner tonight with her crew. I had ahi tuna, and it was incredible. It was incredible.
[laughter]
BH:It was incredible. So, anyway, about the film. This is a film that took 6 years to make. I actually conceptualized this film in 1997, after I finished my film, I Am a Man: Black Masculinity in American, but it took me several years before I could muster up the courage to actually commit to the idea of making the film and commit to the serious nature of such an endeavor. I started working on the film, trying to raise money in 2000, and finished the film on January 6, 2006. And the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and my life has not been the same ever since. I’ve been on the road, all over the country, showing this film. And this film is really getting people to talk, which is exactly what I intended this film to do. I wanted to make a film that was going to be – oh, my, I didn’t realize this microphone was in my neck.
[laughter]
BH:I wanted to make a film that was going to be critical, you know, that was gonna make people look at hip-hop from a different lens and listen to hip-hop with a different ear. And so, that being said, you know, I was inspired by a filmmaker named Marlon Riggs Has anybody heard of Marlon Riggs anybody in this room?
Female:Yes.
[applause]
BH:An exceptional filmmaker. If you have not heard of him, you know, I [inaudible] encouraging to find his work. He has a film that’s called Ethnic Notions, Color Adjustment, Black Is, Black Ain’t, Tongues Untied. He was a brilliant and courageous filmmaker, and he questioned things like race, racial identity, gender identity. He raised issues around homophobia. And, you know, he was a really courageous filmmaker, and I sat and I watched his work as a college student. And I said, “Wow! I really wanna—I wish I could have that kind of an impact on some person, on a young person,” because he completely changed the way I view myself and how I viewed the world, through his films. So, if I could do that for some young person or for any person here tonight, then I feel fulfilled. So, thank you very much. I look forward to the conversation, which to me is the most important part of this film, is the conversation that takes place afterwards. If you want more information about me or the film, you can go to my website, You can get more information about me and the film. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you.
[applause]
[hip-hop music]
Will Patterson:He has contributed to the local hip-hop scene and [inaudible] through DJ in singing, producing and organizing. As president of UC Hip-Hop Congress in 2003 and 2004, he’s helped organize one of the largest hip-hop awareness weeks on campus, which included [inaudible] still going strong through the organization. In a space where the campus and local communities all are separated, he tries to stay in touch with both, and he has had the benefit of working with a wide range of people. He has become the DJ for many local hip-hop bands, and is happy to share his [inaudible] as DJ Lim.
[applause]
Will Patterson:Twick G [inaudible] to talk about it [inaudible] want to hear. I don’t have any written bio of him, but I’ve known him for quite some time. And actually I read [inaudible] aware there’s a [inaudible] when I met him, [inaudible] we were doing a piece on hip-hop and we were doing empowering pieces in the public schools. He was one of the artists at that time that actually stood up [inaudible] in the house, he [inaudible] and did their thing. So, I’ve been [inaudible] for quite some time [inaudible] what he’s interested in, what he talks about Twick G. Y’all give it up for him.
[applause]
Will Patterson:[inaudible] is Gabriel Ceaser. Gabby for short. Gabby is the producer/director and a researcher in the youth media workshop. Gabby is a freshman at CentralHigh School and happens to be a dope MC herself as well as hip-hop. Gabby has produced the documentary, More Than a Bus Line, desegregating Champaign public schools. Y’all give it up for Gabby.
[applause]
Will Patterson:[inaudible] Aisha Durham is co-editor of [inaudible] girls make some noise for hip-hop feminism [inaudible] Durham [inaudible] candidate in the Institute of Communications Research [inaudible] fellow at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She holds a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. Other than completing her dissertation on hip-hop feminism, Durham volunteers [inaudible] So Hot program in the Champaign Boys’ and Girls’ Club [inaudible] hip-hop to empower Black girls of all ages. Y’all give it up for Aisha.
[applause]
Will Patterson:My man, sitting next to Aisha, Brian Mitchell is producer/director and researcher in the [inaudible] workshop. Brian is a junior at UrbanaHigh School and happens to love hip-hop culture. Brian’s first film [inaudible] co-producer/director, and researcher is entitled And the Beat Goes On: The Spirit and Legacy of theDouglassCenterDrum Corps. Y’all give it up for a man.
[applause]
Will Patterson:[inaudible] Sarah. You know, I served on the panels with her [inaudible] discussion is a powerhouse in her game. Sarah Kaplan is an assistant professor in African-American Studies. Dr. Kaplan received her PhD in Ethnic Studies from the University of California – Berkeley. Dr. Kaplan researched teaching focuses on African-American [inaudible] literature and cultures and race, gender, and sexuality. Her solid work has appeared in [inaudible] magazine and Black Women: Gender and Family. She is presently working on a book that examines the material and [inaudible] significance of a slave [inaudible] for contemporary political theory [inaudible] reproduction and freedom. Dr. Kaplan’s other activities include political work around welfare rights, prison evolution, and racial justice in higher education. Y’all give it up for Dr. Sarah Kaplan.
[applause]
Will Patterson:Alright. Are these mics alright? Can y’all hear pretty good? Alright, Byron, let’s start off with you. You mentioned watching the videos. Was one of the videos [inaudible] and the content of those videos inspired you to make this film. Was that the only instance that encouraged you to move forward with this project, or was it more of a long-term view of your work and what you were discovering in working with young people?
Byron Hurt:Well, the answer to that question is yes, absolutely. I could not have made this film if I did not begin learning about gender issues when I graduated from college at NortheasternUniversity in Boston. I was pretty much like any other typical guy, you know? I grew up as a jock. I went to college. Started playing college football. I pledged a fraternity. So, I was very much sort of like immersed into male culture. And then, when I graduated, [inaudible] film, I went to a program called The Mentors and Violence Prevention Program, and that program changed my life. It just changed the way I saw myself in the world. It made me question the way that I had been raised as a guy, to not consider things like sexism and men’s violence against women, not to really question the way that I had been socialized as a man, to handle conflict, you know. I thought about all of the different fights that I had been in as a young dude, you know, growing up, you know, fighting against guys for very stupid reasons, sexist reasons, and not being capable of backing down from competition because I was afraid of what my boys would think about me if I, you know, tried to work things out peacefully or whatever. And so, you know, learning about gender issues helped inform me to make this film. I would not have had the language to make this film had I not started to learn about things like masculine identity, sexism, misogyny, which is something I had heard of before, but it wasn’t something I really knew or understood about. I didn’t know what it meant. You know, like misogyny means the hatred of women. So, like, these were all new things that I was learning as a dude. And, of course, I had women in my life who had challenged me about my own sexism and my own behaviors and things like that, but it wasn’t until like a guy started to challenge me about these things that I really opened my mind up to listen. And then, everything else that anybody had told me started to make sense with me. You know? So, I started to learn about all the things that women have to go through on a daily basis to protect themselves from being raped or sexually assaulted. You know, I started to learn about things like battering and sexual harassment and all of these different things that were sort of new to me. And so, as I started to learn more about these things, it really changed the way I listened to hip-hop. You know? I got to a point where I could no longer—I knew what I was listening to was not cool. I knew that, you know, us guys call women bitches and whores—was a problem. You know, and I realized that I had become really desensitized to the level of sexism and misogyny. I would see ‘em all the time. And then, I began to think—you know, question things like homophobia. So, all those things led to me making this film. And, you know, I’ve said this a number of different times a day. You know, it did take courage to make this movie, man. It took a lot of courage, you know, because at the time that I was really seriously thinking about making this film, it was around the time when anyone who said anything negative about hip-hop, they were considered a hater. You know, he was considered somebody who was, you know, doing something that was against the culture, or you were trying to shut the culture down. You know, all those kind of ridiculous things. And, you know, I say this, I made this film because I love the hip-hop culture. I made this film because I want to make hip-hop culture better, you know what I’m saying, that it is? Niles (sp?) came up with CD, Hip-Hop Is Dead. You know? I want this film and the criticism that comes out of all of this to breathe life into hip-hop. You know what I’m saying? Because that’s what hip-hop is, and hip-hop has so much potential. Hip-hop has so much power. But, you know, we have to begin to challenge and be critical of the things that are holding hip-hop back. So, there you go. Thank you.
Will Patterson:And this is for the panelists overall, and I’d like for each one of you to comment on this. When did hip-hop first touch your life? You can chime in at any rotation. It doesn’t matter.
Sarah Kaplan:I think I had to have been in like, what?, 7th grade, 8th grade. And my first, you know, my first serious crush Dubby Brash[chuckle] and you know, my first real fashion item was Coca-Cola [inaudible] shirts, and we called ourselves the Coca-Cola Crew, right? Like, that was, you know, [inaudible[ hip-hop generation in a real way. I don’t remember when hip-hop didn’t touch my life. Like, that was my introduction to popular culture, was hip-hop. And that’s, I think, you know, one of the things that makes this a really key moment, finally a generation of activists and thinkers and, you know, cultural producers are coming of age, who have never been outside of hip-hop, to be able to stage certain kinds of critiques of our own, you know?