What’s Next 4.20.13
- We are in talks with a potential university partner
- We will be sending out a local community wide survey in the coming weeks
- We are in the process of determining who we will be inviting to be members of the community board
- Still seeking volunteer project staff
- Interviews will begin in earnest this summer
Holla. We’d love to hear from you.
Day One
I’m excited. I hope you are too! We have officially launched. One day down, 29 more to go. In the days to come look for radio appearances, fliers, posters, and pluggers to come your way urging you to 1) Check out the project 2) support the project 3) Donate to the project. You know you want to. We have some cool donor rewards— which we will key you into in the coming days.
Also get ready to check out the team page—some changes have been made and lots of new faces. Get ready— this train is on the track baby, we have pulled out of the station.
8.02.12 Update
Truth be told there’s not alot to update because there’s not much that I can talk about yet. I’m still in pre production, infancy mode right now.
What I can tell you:
I’m still conducting background interviews. Its tricky with between people’s lives, schedules and children.
The staff is growing and bios will be up and available shortly. We are still looking for people to join the team. There’s alot of work to be done folks.
The Kickstarter will launch very shortly. What can I say I’m bootstrapping right now and my straps are short. But not only is it a vast improvement over the first attempt I think it reps the city very well, very succinctly. Here’s hoping you agree.
The logo has been completed, hence the new background. I love it and it was done by Chicago graf pioneer Trixter… Yes, yes I know. That is my vision not his. He executed as requested.
I am working on a general project description and total budget for all three initial pieces.
Where They At?!
I recently noticed a similar project has gone live in NOLA. There isn’t a serial documentary piece but the oral history and archive development pieces are there. This is great because the history of hip hop as I have said many times isn’t just east and west coast and it sets a precedent for the work that is taking place. Watch closely as areas and cities across the country take a page from Chicago and New Orleans to document their own local history.
What Will It Take?
Seriously folks this project needs doing, the next 30 days will re-focus the project. Sometimes you try to go too far, too fast. This history is deep and the project needs to present itself in a manner befitting the culture.
I know alot of us aren’t thinking of it this way, but we should be. If people don’t know your history, they will make it up to suit their purposes.
Look at the whitewashing of the roots of Rock and Roll. People don’t even see it as black music anymore, but it is.
This is about making sure the origins of the culture are not lost on the generations to come.
We all know the origins of hip hop are multicultural.
The practitioners still are Asian bboys and bgirls abound on the Chicago scene and other major cities across the world, Latino graf writers and emcees, our Middle Eastern brethren Man o Wax, Akbar, but that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t recognize it’s origins in Black American culture. We should. We should also acknowledge the influence other cities had and continue to have on this New York import. That’s the story I want to tell. Help me do so.
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