Hip Hop For Change

Mission

To enhance opportunities for marginalized people in the Bay Area, HipHopForChange Inc (HH4C) is reclaiming Hip Hop culture as a vehicle for education, empowerment, and cultural innovation. Out of displacement and neglect, inner-city neighborhoods birthed Hip Hop as an outlet for oppressed people to address socio-economic injustices and validate their experiences through music, artistic expression, and storytelling; however, this beautiful cultural art form has been co-opted.

White Media has historically portrayed Black and Brown communities through skewed frames and stereotypes by centering gross misrepresentations of our experiences and humanity. These media giants have used consumer capitalism and colonization tools to dictate the tone, narratives, and mediums by which people of color can adequately and safely express themselves. This unethical cultural hijacking has usurped Hip Hop's artistry, innovation, and power, caricaturing the culture as hyper-violent and hyper-sexual, promoting criminality, toxic masculinity, and materialism.

We provide solutions through Hip Hop culture by implementing grassroots organizing, arts programming, and educational events to advance our mission. We work with state and local partners such as the City of Oakland, the California Arts Council, the Zellerbach Foundation, the Sierra Club, and others that recognize the importance of arts and culture in POC communities.

We advocate for systemic change rooted in our community, owning the means of our creative production, amplifying our voices, and taking back our narrative. We recognize the colonial systems that use white supremacy to maintain practices that undermine communities of color by denying access to the opportunities needed to secure self-determination and liberty. Our core values stand with diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our goal is to advocate for all marginalized communities, including POC, LGBTQAI, Indigenous/Tribes, Immigrants, disabled bodies, poverty-stricken, systems impacted, and others affected by colonialism in all its forms.

Organization Information