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September 10, 2004 – The Hip Hop
Caucus was officially established as a membership organization
at a forum called “When Hip Hop Meets Congress”
at Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium.
April 1, 2005 – We protested the
Republican National Committee’s “Conversation
with the Community” on Historically Black Colleges
and Universities, led by RNC chair Ken Mehlman, who was
complicit in voter disenfranchisement of African-Americans
in the 2004 elections.
May 17, 2005 – Under our Hip Hop
for Justice Campaign we organized a “Save the Filibuster”
event at the Capitol as a piece of a mass mobilization to
save the filibuster. Read the article in the Washington
post here.
August 29, 2005 – The levees broke
in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina. We feel that Hurricane
Katrina was our generation’s “lunch-counter”
moment.
September 4, 2005 – We held the first
weekly conference call between grassroots groups in the
Gulf Coast, displaced individuals, and national organizers.
September 8, 2005 – We sent out our
very first newsletter which helped to coordinate information
on the ground with the efforts of national organizers.
September 19, 2005 – We hosted From
the Hill to Hood, a fundraiser for Katrina survivors in
New York City with B.B King, David Banner and Dave
Chappelle.
September 23, 2005 – We convened
a Town Hall Meeting at the Congressional Black Caucus Annual
Legislative weekend where grassroots organizers from New
Orleans were able to make requests for assistance and accountability.
October 14, 2005 – 10th Anniversary
of the Million Man March in Washington DC, check out Rev.
Yearwood speech to the youth contingent here.
November 7, 2005 – We led the “March
to Gretna” across the Crescent City Connection Bridge,
where in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, African-Americans
were held at gunpoint by armed police and denied refuge
in the neighboring town of Gretna.
November 25, 2005 – We coordinated
the production of a two-hour program on Pacifica radio in
Washington, D.C., which engaged reports and analysis from
activists in Louisiana and Mississippi.
December 6, 2005 – The Congressional
Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation
for and Response to Hurricane Katrina held a hearing
entitled “Hurricane Katrina: Voices from Inside the
Storm.” We helped coordinate the testimony of survivors.
This hearing enabled survivors to publicly provide the details
of the mistreatment and deprivation they experienced in
the aftermath of the storm.
December 14, 2005 – We organized
a protest in front of FEMA headquarters in D.C. to protest
hotel evictions and to a demand comprehensive program for
transitional and long-term housing for all Katrina survivors.
February 7, 2006 – We held a summit
on Capitol Hill in which representatives from approximately
fifty organizations met to strategize and discuss solutions
for the Gulf Coast region. It was at this time that the
network of grassroots groups in the Gulf Coast and national
advocacy groups in D.C. formalized their coalition as the
Gulf Coast Renewal Campaign, with Rev. Yearwood as the National
Director.
February 8, 2006 – The Gulf Coast
Renewal Campaign met with survivors visiting Washington,
D.C. and discussed the relative merits of legislation dealing
with the allocation of resources for community redevelopment.
ACORN sponsored the event on Capitol Hill and AFL-CIO sponsored
the reception that followed.
March 14, 2006 – We held a press
conference on Capitol Hill, followed by a March for Justice,
and a rally and protest at the White House. Participants
included Rev. Jesse Jackson of Rainbow PUSH, Hillary Shelton
of the NAACP, Melanie Campbell of National Coalition for
Black Civic Participation, Kim Gandy of the National Organization
for Women, Judith Browne of the Advancement Project, as
well as Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Mel Watt, Rep. William Jefferson,
Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Sheila-Jackson Lee, Rep. Mike Honda,
and Rep. Elijah Cummings.
March 14, 2006 – Our 501(c)3 arm
was established as the Hip Hop Caucus Institute, a non-profit,
non-partisan organization.
March 28, 2006 – Rev. Yearwood spoke
at the Congressional Progressive Caucus Strategic Planning
Retreat, where he provided information regarding the critical
areas of need for displaced survivors and residents returning
to the Gulf Coast region.
May-June 2006 – FEMA announced plans
to terminate the Stafford Act’s Section 403 Housing
Program which provided 55,000 displaced families with rental
assistance. Mayor White, in Houston, successfully petitioned
FEMA to not terminate assistance for Houston survivors.
In response, we solicited letters from Mayors’ offices
and members of Congress. The letters requested extensions
of the Section 403 program for their cities. At the same
time, we worked with a legal team, to get 63 members of
Congress to sign onto an amicus brief for a lawsuit against
FEMA. In the face of this pressure, FEMA extended the 403
deadline, and the district court judge ruled to compel FEMA
to insure that rental assistance could be applied to utilities
payments.
June 6 & 13, 2006 – In recognition
of National Homeownership Month two Congressional briefings
were held on the housing situation in the Gulf Coast region.
We worked with the offices of Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Wm.
Lacy Clay, Rep. Bennie Thompson, Rep. Mel Watt, Rep. Al
Green, and Rep. Cynthia McKinney to hold these briefings.
June 13, 2006 – In coordination with
the second Congressional briefing on housing in the Gulf
Coast region, we and the People’s Hurricane Relief
Fund brought displaced survivors from Texas, Louisiana,
Georgia and North Carolina to Washington D.C. to hold a
protest and press conference at FEMA headquarters.
July 20, 2006 – We organized a Congressional
briefing on Capitol Hill in which Shakoor Aljuwani of the
Common Ground Relief Collective reported on the organization’s
success in gutting and rehabilitating hundreds of residences
in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward; Judith Browne from the
Advancement Project spoke on the class action lawsuit filed
on behalf of public housing tenants, and; Sheila Crowley,
director of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, spoke
on the larger challenge of creating a viable low-income
housing stock in the Gulf Coast region.
October 18, 2006 – We received the
prestigious 30th annual Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award
from the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C.
for its work on human rights issues for Katrina survivors.
November 24, 2006 – We held the “Stop
the Violence Hip Hop Caucus” in New Orleans to bring
together community leaders, the Hip Hop community and elected
officials to discuss solutions for the incredible spike
in New Orleans homicide rate.
January 19, 2007 – We officially
launched the “Make Hip Hop Not War” Campaign
at the mass mobilization in Washington, DC against the Iraq
War.
March and April 2007 – We hit the
streets and organized a sixteen city national bus tour with
Hip Hop Artists, Iraq War Veterans, youth leaders, peace
and security experts, and Members of Congress to educate
our peers on the realities and costs of the United State’s
continued occupation of Iraq. Check out one of the videos
shot back stage with Immortal Technique
and Akir.
June 19, 2007 – We partnered with
the ACLU and Amnesty International to host a concert on
Juneteenth to “Shut it Down: Stop the Torture”
in reference to shutting down our military base in Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba. Check out the flyer here.
June 26, 2007 – We helped organize
a mass mobilization and lobby day on Capitol Hill to restore
Habeas Corpus.
July 2007 – Rev. Yearwood, then an
Air Force Chaplain in the Individual Ready Reserve, received
notice from the Air Force that he was being discharged as
a “threat to national security.” He wrote two
open letters in response to this charge and ultimately beat
his case. Read the letters here
and here.
July 23, 2007 – We marched on Congressman
John Conyers office with about 400 activists to demand the
impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney. Read these two
articles Rev. Yearwood wrote in response to the sit-in in
Rep. Conyer’s office: Race is the trip wire for the
Progressive Movement Part I and
Part II.
August 2007 – We traveled to Amman,
Jordan to meet with Iraqi and Jordanian leaders and Iraqi
refugees to learn about the ongoing humanitarian crisis
resulting from U.S. occupation of Iraq.
September 10, 2007 – Rev. Yearwood
was denied entry to the public hearing on Capitol Hill where
General Petraeus gave his report to Congress on the status
of Iraq. When Rev. Yearwood questioned why he was not allowed
to enter he was assaulted by Capitol Hill police. You can
see the incident on video here.
September 20, 2007 – As
part of the largest civil rights demonstrations in years,
we descended on Jena, Louisiana to join the thousands there
from around the country to see demand the release of Mychal
Bell.
November 16 and 17, 2007 –
We mobilized and marched with thousands at the Justice Department
on Friday, November 16 seeking justice for the Jena 6. Then
on Saturday we held a rally and concert at the Washington
Monument to say “Enough is Enough! Stop Hate Crimes
and Police Brutality.” Check out this video of the
event.
December 8, 2007 – We worked
with the Advancement Project and Students for a Democratic
Society to protest HUD’s demolitions of New Orleans
Public Housing. After a moving rally, in which we called
out Secretary Jackson for betraying his role in the civil
rights movement, we shut down six city blocks around HUD’s
headquarters in Washington, DC.
January
14, 2008 - We met with Walter Kälin, Representative of
the United Nations Secretary-General on Internally Displaced
Persons about the status of Hurricane Katrina survivors.
January
17-19, 2008 - We traveled to
Birmingham
,
AL
on the weekend of Dr. King’s Birthday where we were the
keynote presenters for the Birmingham Peace Project’s
Martin Luther King Celebration.
January
20, 2008
- We presented “War on Greed” film in
Atlanta
,
GA
to shed light worker exploitation driven by corporate greed.
See the video here.
January
21, 2008
- We attended the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s
Presidential debate in
Myrtle Beach
,
South Carolina
.
January
22, 2008
- We organized the ‘Save Our Homes Demonstration’ in
front of HUD with Rainbow Push Coalition. See the website here.’
February
5, 2008
-
We worked with coalition of Africa Advocacy groups to
challenge Bush’s “legacy” in
Africa
while he toured the continent.
February
8, 2008
- We presented at Re-Energize Texas Summit on Climate
Change. Watch Rev. Yearwood at the
Summit
here.
February
11, 2008
- We traveled to
New Orleans
for the Proctor Conference.
March
3-4, 2008 - Presented
and demonstrated with the Backbone Campaign in Portland,
Oregon for the Procession for the Future, which worked to
inspire, educate and train youth and concerned citizens to
be more effective activists in this crucial election year
AND beyond.
March
12, 2008 - We
Organized Congressional call-in in opposition to Africa
Command (AFRICOM) www.resistafricom.org
March 17, 2008 - Rev.
Yearwood was charged with
disorderly conduct for speaking on a microphone on October
22, 2007 at a rally in
Washington
,
DC
. Although others were arrested and charged with disorderly
conduct at time of the protest -- charges for which they
were acquitted at trial -- Rev. Yearwood was not. Read the
Press release here.
March
18, 2008 - The
Hip Hop Caucus and Amnesty International presented the “We
Care Concert”, which highlighted the plight of the
millions of internally displaced and Iraqi refugees and the
thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors who have yet to
return home. See the video here.
March
28, 2008 - PBS
aired a special on the work of the Hip Hop Caucus,
highlighting our community organizing in the
Gulf
Coast
. Check out the Video.
April
4-6, 2008 - The
Hip Hop Caucus presented at the historic Dream Reborn
Conference in
Memphis
on the weekend of the 40th year commemoration of
Dr. King’s assassination. Over 1,000 people from all
around the country gathered to celebrate Dr King’s Life
and to continue seeding the movement that will create
ecological solutions to heal the earth while bringing jobs,
justice, wealth and health to all our communities.
Here is a link to
Rev. Yearwood’s keynote speech, remixed by Davey D.
April
15, 2008 - The
Hip Hop Caucus and Sustainable South Bronx organized a Town
Hall meeting in the
South Bronx
where hundreds of people came to organize for “Green Jobs
Not Jails.”
April
20, 2008 - Earth
Day Network, the Hip Hop Caucus and the Green Apple Festival
celebrated Earth Day on the Washington Mall with 50,000
people. We
demanded tough and fair action against global warming.
May
9, 2008
- HHC served as panelist at Demos conference in
Washington
,
DC
and discussed Dream generation with young activists from
across the nation.
May
12, 2008
- HHC was an Award recipient and keynote presenter during
Whistleblower week.
There are only more good things to come out of the Caucus
in 2008.
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