This Tuesday, I traveled to L.A. with David Halperin (Director of Campus Progress) and Keisha Senter (Speakers Bureau Manager) to attend the Campus Progress L.A. film screening and discussion of Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, a hard-hitting look at the portrayal of masculinity in hip-hop and how it particularly relates to misogyny and homophobia. The director, Byron Hurt, uses on-the-ground footage, such as spitting battles on the courtyard to BET's Spring Bling, and interviews with artists including Busta Rhymes, Talib Kweli, Mos Def and De La Soul. Following the screening was a very in-depth (and rather star-studded) discussion moderated by Professor Regina Freer (of Occidental College), with  Byron Hurt (the director), Keith Brown (Executive Vice-President of BET), recording artists Talib Kweli, M-1 (of Dead Prez fame) and Yo-Yo. There were well over 400 people attending the screening and panel discussion; the theater was filled to capacity with an overflow room showing the film on a television for those we couldn't accommodate inside.

The film was great; Hurt offers his perspective as a fan of hip-hop who is disappointed with the way hip-hop culture is portrayed in the media and examines why violence and sexually explicit lyrics are perpetuated by young men. He picks apart mainstream music outlets, including BET.  He questions major artists like Busta and 50 Cent on their view of homosexuality and why a man must be “manly” to succeed in hip-hop, and juxtaposes their answers with younger men who are auditioning for a record deal or just rapping with one another on the street.  You leave the film riled up – in a good way – to challenge and break the cycle; is it the media, the consumers or the artists that should be questioning why women are sex objects in rap videos? 

After the jump – more on the panel discussion and some pictures from SoCal.

The panel discussion took the film one step further.  The audience was encouraged to engage Brown, the BET executive, in why the channel plays videos that portray women (particularly women of color) in such a negative light.  He shot back with the fact that they are in a business to entertain.  If they can get ratings playing socially-conscious videos, he would do just that.   But the artists disagreed.  I loved M-1’s comment, when he said he’d been a “victim of BET my entire life.”  People like Dead Prez, so why isn’t BET giving them airtime?  Brown argued that BET wasn’t receiving many videos made by socially-conscious, big-name rappers.  Talib took this claim on, letting us know that he had produced a video with a number of socially-conscious and popular recording artists, including Mary J. Blige and Common, and BET didn’t play it.

Yo-Yo, a popular and groundbreaking female MC from the 90’s, was also on the panel and offered a really great perspective and balance to the panel.  She held her own against a panel of strong personalities and acknowledged her position as a role model for young women in the hip-hop world.

The discussion, launched by the film, was great.  Campus Progress and the other co-sponsoring organizations loved the feedback the film received and the diversity (race, gender, and age) of the crowd and the different perspectives they offered during the conversation following the film.  We were also excited to have friends Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters and Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Nina Hachigian joining us in the crowd.  If you haven’t yet heard about the film, check out the NYT article and the film’s website, and then go to our Speakers Bureau page if you’re interested in screening it on your campus!

 Some fun pictures below:

 
Below , some of our panelists posing with some of our coalition partners (M-1 on far left, Talib Kweli on far right, and director Byron Hurt to Talib's right) 

Former MC Yo-Yo takes some time to speak with audience members 

Keisha and I happy after a succesful event and smiling with some of our panelists (Talib in the middle, M-1 on the far right)

Showing some Campus Progress swag to M-1

Other highlights of L.A.:

Remember the Laugh Factory? (Hint: Kramer lost his cool here) We walked by it on our way to breakfast - only minutes from our hotel.

 ... We were walking to The Griddle - a local hotspot, famous for it's breakfast food.  I had the largest stack of pancakes I've ever had - and amazingly delicious (I recommend it: Teacher's Pet- pancakes with cinammon apples baked right in)

 Santa Monica Pier - where we happened upon a film shooting.  I came back and did a little investigating via Google and found we were on the set of Paris Hilton's film, Hottie and the Nottie (seriously)