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
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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.
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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.