[COMM-ORG] The second Words, Beats & Life, Conference "Remixing the Art of Social Change"

[Discussion list for COMM-ORG]

From: "Melinda Chateauvert" <mchateau at aasp.umd.edu>


    A former student is producing the second Words, Beats & Life
Conference "Remixing the Art of Social Change" in Washington DC (at Howard
University) June 12-14. (http://www.wblinc.org/remix.html or
http://www.wblinc.org/)

    I am sending the announcement along not only because it is content/
subject appropriate, but also to tweak list members as this conference will
not conform to the approaches, themes, and techniques often shared here.
Theteach-in  aims to teach and discuss communication/organizing skills the
present generation of hip hop activists/performers/academics, I find it
instructive that Barack Obama's name -- or for that matter anything about
electoral politics -- appears anywhere in the program. (The 15 page
agenda/conference booklet can be downloaded
http://www.wblinc.org/RemixingTheArtOfSocialChange.pdf)

    Whether that ellipsis is "good" or "bad" isn't, to me, the way to
frame a discussion. I'm more intrigued by Mazi's ability to win funding
through alternative sources organizers don't often use: state and local Arts
Councils, and highlighting the political content of multiple art forms.
Whether art and culture can or does lead to policy/political change -- or
whether policy change should be the ultimate goal of organizing -- is yet
another discussion. I'm old school enough to be skeptical, but gatherings
like this one should force us to reconsider.
    

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Remixing the Art of Social Change, DC Agenda
Greetings!

The time is almost upon us for the second annual national teach-in, Remixing
the Art of Social Change: a Hip-Hop Approach. We are so very fortunate to
have artists, scholars, activists and youth from all over the country coming
to Washington, D.C. to present promising practices in a number of subject
areas. The staff and board of Words Beats & Life, along with the 15 host
committee members made up of scholars, artists, and organizations, have
created an event not worth missing. This is the event to fly across the
country for, if there ever was one. For folk coming from out of town, there
are a number of hotels listed at the bottom of this e-mail. This is the
event to attend in order to meet some of the best in the world of hip-hop
and learn how they're making change happen. As a side note, you might be
struck by some of the artwork and titles chosen for workshops. In most
cases, we've chosen classic rap albums or great songs to describe the
workshops and presentations of this teach-in.

We recognize that this e-mail is long, but promise that it's well worth the
read. We do hope to see you at the event, along with the 50 or so presenting
and 70 or so already registered scholars, artists, and youth at Howard
University. Our goal is to have 200-250 scholars, artists, and youth in
attendance, along with the administrative, programing staff, and board
members of nonprofits, government agencies and foundations. This will be the
largest gathering of the leaders of organizations WBL has hosted in our
seven-year history, and we hope it will be our most successful event to
date. Register today and be part of the impact.

All teach-in events are covered with registration. If you decide that you
only want to come to single events, they each have an individual admission
fee of $10. Space is limited, so please register early. Online registration
will be closed on June 10, 2009 at 5 p.m. EST.

Register today for the teach-in and automatically become a member of the
Cipher! Copy and paste the following link into your browser for details and
registration information: http://www.wblinc.org/remix.html