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Opinion In 5th Year, My Dream for Hip Hop “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor J ERRY F OSTER Advertising Manager L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor P ATRICIA I RVIN D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., I t was all a dream. Salt n Pepa and Heavy D in a limousine. Hanging pictures on my wall….. I share the late Notorious B.I.G’s sentiments as he described his undying love for Hip Hop in his multi-platinum hit ‘Juicy.’ What is your Hip Hop dream? I went from Lucious J to Kandi with a K to Flygirl Lady Jay, but my most important title is presi- dent of the Hip Hop Union. My dream was to build an organiza- tion that provides the necessary tools, resources and services to activate and assist businesses and entrepreneurs who are dedicated to preserving the legacy and expanding the reach of Hip Hop culture. The grueling task of bringing a world of chaos to its fullest potential has been both troublesome and rewarding. Trou- blesome because it is the body of Hip Hop that does not let itself grow. That’s largely because Hip Hop was not united. How could it be when Hip Hop has connected to the world by its sounds and lyrics? How do we find out what the body of Hip Hop is thinking when it comes to politics, education, police brutality and social wel- fare? We usually hear particular per- spectives from artists who garner attention because they have sold millions of records but still have warped perspectives. The same can be said of self-appointed lead- ers who use the platform to increase their reach and, in the end, slow down the advancement of the community. Their goal is to sidetrack what they perceive as H IP H OP U NION Jineea Butler competition, many of their ideas and perspectives are stolen from the citizens who tirelessly work to make change. You never know what someone has sacrificed for the love of Hip Hop. It’s a love so deep you can’t shake it, it can break your heart, it can fulfill your dreams and sadly in the cases of Shakir Stewart of The time has come for us to organize and invest in the success of our people, stimulate economic growth and force love among one another. On Sept. 19, 2009, the Hip Hop Union was born to fill that need. A group of 22 individu- als from different organizations and affiliations across the country sat down at Long Island Universi- ty in Brooklyn, N.Y. for a meeting that would change the world in the name of Hip Hop yet again. One of the many goals proposed on that day was to work for Hip Hop to be recognized and invited to sit among world leaders. Understanding the dynamics of the Hip Hop industry, we invested five years in researching and cul- On this 5th anniversary, I make a toast to all the artists, entrepreneurs, educators, executives, interns, activists and enthusiast who have participated in the formation of the Hip Hop Union Def Jam and Violator Manage- ment founder Chris Lighty, it can be the stress and death of you. Hip Hop has been a way out for young Black and Brown folks for more than four decades. It is the mani- festation of desires and determination to succeed at the highest levels by any means nec- essary. It entails constantly lobbying for positions and beg- ging to be heard by the outlets that refuse to publish your work or music after you have spent so much time creating it. tivating the services members of the Hip Hop Union will soon be able to enjoy. We wanted to make sure that we were representing the people and not only ourselves. We knew that our selfless efforts would be scrutinized by every- body who considers themselves an authority when it comes to Hip Hop. It is natural for people to shun the work and stop forward progression of fellow constituents; we should not have to manipulate each other to succeed. We should have the confidence and intelligence to love one anoth- er and support our respective dreams. Why is my dream more important than yours, when we work together things happen faster? I am proud to announce that the Hip Hop Union kicked off its year-long celebration of the 5th anniversary of our public outreach in Seoul, South Korea. We dis- cussed how Hip Hop is the only art form that has transcended every race, religion and cultural barrier across the globe. On this 5th anniversary, I make a toast to all the artists, entrepre- neurs, educators, executives, interns, activists and enthusiast who have participated in the for- mation of the Hip Hop Union. There is only one way to describe you, the way Steve Jobs described his Apple employees: ‘Here’s to the crazy ones the misfits, the rebels, the troublemak- ers, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things dif- ferently they’re not fond of rules , they have no respect for the status quo, you can quote them, you can disagree with them, glorify or vil- ify them. Almost the only thing you can’t do is ignore them, because they change things they push the human race forward, while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who were crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” Jineea Butler, founder of the Social Services of Hip Hop and the Hip Hop Union, can be reached at jineea@gmail.com or Tweet her at @flygirlladyjay. P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2014 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds Silicon Valley Must Embrace Diversity W hile the number of African American, Lati- no and women consumers of Internet and broad- band products and services is rising, their numbers at the major Silicon Valley companies continue to lag way behind. After years of resisting disclosure, tech giants such as Apple, Facebook, Yahoo and Google recently released their employment diversity numbers. As we’ve long suspected, they show a striking lack of inclusion. According to published figures, at Google, 3 percent of its staff are Hispanic and 2 percent are Black. Both Yahoo and Facebook report- ed that Hispanics and Blacks make up 4 percent and 2 percent of their workplaces, respectively. When Apple makes an announcement, as in its recent introduction of the iPhone 6, it usually wants the world to stand up and take notice. This was likely not the case with the release of its diversity numbers last month, which showed the company is 55 percent White, 15 percent Asian, 11 percent Hispanic and 7 percent Black. In his state- ment upon release of the report, Apple CEO Tim Cook candidly admitted, “I’m not satisfied with the numbers on this page.” This acknowledgment is a first step, but the question for Cook and his Sili- con Valley counterparts is: What are you going to do about it? For years, Silicon Valley has used the specious claim of being a T O B E E QUAL Marc Morial “meritocracy” to explain the lack of diversity in its ranks. It has never been true that African Amer- icans, Latinos or women are somehow less able to excel at high tech jobs. It is true that communi- ties of color and women continue the necessary supports and oppor- tunities available to them to succeed in STEM-related class work and exposing students to STEM-related careers. But as Freda Kapor Klein, co- chair of the Kapor Center for Social Impact, explains, “The real- ity is that most of the barriers are structural…our sector is permeat- ed by biases, both subtle and not so subtle.” Her co-chair and hus- band, Mitch Kapor, the designer of Lotus 1-2-3, adds, “Even as com- panies scramble to find workers in the most competitive hiring mar- ket in recent memory, most are “The industry that bills itself a meritocracy actually looks more like a mirrortocracy.” — Mitch Kapor, co-chair of the Kapor Center for Social Impact to be underrepresented in the attainment of science and engi- neering degrees. The National Urban League is working to increase those numbers with efforts such as Project Ready STEM, which is supporting 10 Project Ready STEM sites across the nation. The sites are success- fully operating STEM programs for nearly 300 middle or high school students, with the goals of ensuring that urban students have Page 2 The Portland and Seattle Skanner September 24, 2014 continuing to bring aboard people who look like they do.” It is not enough to lament the numbers; Silicon Valley must be more intentional about increasing diversity. The industry would do well to follow the example of some of the large telecom com- panies, which have taken proactive measures in recent years to increase diversity within their organizations. For example, AT&T’s Workforce Inclusion website states, “We know that diverse, talented and dedicated individuals are critical to our suc- cess, so we look for people from various backgrounds and give them opportunities to grow…we serve our customers better when we build diversity into all we do.” Verizon has also made great strides in both employee and sup- plier diversity. According to Verizon Chairman and CEO, Low- ell McAdam “A diverse workplace is one of Verizon’s biggest strengths as a global innovation leader. Our employees’ unique backgrounds and perspectives are key to our success in delivering technology solutions that create value for our customers, share- holders and society.” Silicon Valley companies must not only make similar statements, they must make similar commit- ments. They can begin by developing comprehensive diver- sity plans to cover hiring, procurement, governance and phi- lanthropy. As major consumers of technology, people of color and women should also have a fair share of the jobs and wealth that Silicon Valley generates. Marc H. Morial, former mayor of New Orleans, is president and CEO of the National Urban League.
