How Hip-Hop Could Help Harris Win Presidency – Essence

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past half-century, it’s obvious that hip-hop culture has a world reach. influentialA genre that began within the boroughs of New York City and was birthed by a connected family of disenfranchised people from across the diaspora has grown right into a sound that embodies the world and has turn into its own lifestyle.

Its reach extends far beyond music. Industries like fashion, popular trends, technology, and even politics have been transformed by hip-hop’s freedom and innovation. About 30 years ago, most political heavyweights demonized hip-hop and its artists. Over time, an increasing number of politicians have accepted that the genre is ingrained in American life and that there may be nothing they’ll do about it. Instead of attempting to shut down these black voices, they’ve begun to succeed in out to them to assist raise awareness and encourage voters to take part in the political process. Unfortunately, a lot of these candidates don’t have any real love for the hip-hop community. They recognize a chance to make use of it as a tool and nothing more.

Fortunately, Vice President Kamala Harris just isn’t certainly one of those that are usually not like us.

Many will want you to imagine that 47^t The presidential candidate’s connection to hip-hop is just one other approach to get votes, but nothing may very well be farther from the reality. Kamala’s connection to hip-hop isn’t about votes, it’s about her roots—those she shares with thousands and thousands of Americans.

Harris has been showing the world for years that her connection to hip-hop and the black community is Who is she?AND who she at all times wasHow can a black woman, raised by immigrant parents in a middle class home in America, bused to white schools within the 70s, who graduated from an HBCU within the 80s and have become AKA Soror, be anything aside from a sincere expression of respect for hip-hop culture?

Megan Thee Stallion opening her rally in Atlanta in July, collaborating with Quavo to combat gun violence, Lil Jon surprising the Democratic National Convention’s second night, and a slew of Black artists supporting her even before President Biden endorsed her for president in 2024. Kamala’s appreciation for the craft has been evident for years, and she or he’s combined her two passions, hip-hop and politics, to assist galvanize a rustic stuffed with forward-pondering voters.

Her passion for the genre is certainly one of the numerous facets of her character that make her and lots of other political figures, including our beloved forty fourth President Barack Obama, believable. How humbling is it to know that a few of America’s strongest men share an enthusiasm for the culture that helped shape our society?

Harris and her team understand the worth of hip-hop culture to the ever-changing fabric of America. Beyond hip-hop, Americans can see a little bit of themselves in Kamala Harris for just a few reasons. One way I see myself in Kamala is that she isn’t any stranger to questioning her blackness. Our stories are different, but everyone knows what it looks like to have someone query who we’re, when we all know who we’re. Being told you’re not black enough or that you simply’re not the form of black people think try to be. Just because I’m not the black person you wish me to be doesn’t make me less black than you. There’s no set approach to be black, no particular rules to follow, we just fit right into a mold. We were created to exist in a ravishing spectrum of shades, intellects, gifts, talents, interests, and the list goes on and on.

The Harris campaign isn’t attempting to capitalize on black culture. They’re using what their candidate and lots of Americans discover with as a method of raising awareness. Hip-hop mixed with politics has at all times appealed to those that may not resonate with the standard political arena.

When hip-hop is intertwined with politics, those that are usually not normally interested will take a re-assessment because the knowledge is presented in an appealing way by people they discover with and admire. Hip-hop will proceed to be a key to popular culture and can ceaselessly be a cornerstone of black culture.