Hip-hop Responds To Obama’s State Of The Union
by Paradise Gray

Dee -1 & Jasiri X Speak at the State of the Union: Roadmap to Progress

On January 25th, President Obama gave a stirring State of the Union Address. The Hip-hop Generation responded by organizing “Roadmap to Progress“ AKA #BarackTalk, sponsored and presented by The League Of Young Voters, AllHipHop.com and VIBE.com.

The results was a powerful conversation by a room full of diverse and intelligent people, representing Hip-hop, Politics, The Green Movement, The Economy, Gay & Lesbian rights, Immigration, Civil Rights, and many other issues, which were raised before and after President Obama’s incredible speech.

Panelists included: Matt Singer (Bus Federation), Chloe Hilliard (Vibe), Jycorri Robinson (Def Jam), DJ Vlad (VladTv.com), Jasiri X (OneHood), Angela People (Campus Progress), Julian Mocine-McQueen (Green for All), Christina Hollenback (Generation Alliance), Carey Jenkins (The League), Ryan Ford (Cashmere Agency), Chuck Creekmur (Allhiphop), Dee 1 (Artist), and Maegan Carberry (Rock the Vote) and me: Paradise Gray (OneHood/X-Clan).

The panel was tight and featured a great selection of different views and new voices. I was personally impressed with Louisiana rapper Dee-1 who told the crowd that he used to be a middle school teacher. He definitely speaks truth to power in a sincere and heart-felt manner.

After the panel guests were invited to participate in a question and answer session that raised and addressed many important issues that were not covered in The President’s speech. We all had laptops, IPads and typed away on our phones posting updates as we were joined by Over 5,000 people on who watched the broadcast on UStream and #BarackTalk was trending in New Orleans and Washington DC on Twitter.

Overall it was a great event and I look forward to participating in similar panels and events with this dynamic group of leaders.

Allhiphop.com’s CEO Chuck Creekmur wrote a great editorial responding to the President Obama’s SOTU Address and Janeé Bolden from theloop21.com gave this excellent report back on what was a historic night.

Allhiphop.com’s Gina Torres interviews the participants