OntheWilderSide

DC Native Seeking to Remix Green Party in Run for Nomination

Local Hiphop Scholar and Radio Host Sees Run for President as Way to Mobilize Hiphop Community and Expand Reach of Green Party to Grassroots Communities

Prior to becoming the second African American male to graduate with a PhD in journalism from the University of Maryland at College Park, Jared Ball <http://www.jaredball.com> determined that his thesis would focus on what he coined “the emancipatory mixtape.”

Ball, saw how the popularity of hiphop mixtapes distributed through an underground economy could be utilized to mobilize African American youth towards activism. Today, in running for the Green Party nomination, he sees his campaign to expand their reach of the Greens, relative to the major political parties functioning similar to the mixtape relative to products from the major music labels.

“Our campaign, just like the mixtape, is designed to reach the grassroots without corporate backing,” said Dr. Ball, professor of communications at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. “We hope to prove that a message that addresses the issues of the poor, disenfranchised without comprising to corporate interests still resonates with people. It’s not just about ending the war in Iraq, it’s about a political will to apply the same type of energy and resources to the problems of violence, incarceration, unemployment and despair faced by young people in America and around the world,” added Ball.

The current host of the Jazz & Justice show on Pacifica Radio’s Washington DC station WPFW 89.3 FM <http://www.wpfw.org>, he also serves as editor-at-large for the Words, Beats and life Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture. Ball is joined in his revolutionary campaign by DC native and independent hiphop recording artist Head-Roc <http://www.head-roc.com>. According to Head-Roc, who recently released his new album “Negrophobia,” this campaign is the proper evolution of the hiphop community, particularly those who grew up nodding their heads to groups like Public Enemy, Tribe Called Quest, Gangstarr and other politically conscious hiphop artists.

“There is still a lot of real hiphop out there, unfortunately we don’t get to hear anything but the corporate controlled neo-materialistic stuff on the radio,” said Head-Roc. “Our campaign gives both young and older progressive people, credible visual references to hip-hop legends that they automatically can get with and are nostalgic for,” he added.

Ball’s campaign has earned enough signatures to be on the ballot in Illinois and is mobilizing support for an upcoming tour of California in December. For many, this accomplishment done on a shoestring budget with no corporate or big donor help is a victory in itself. Yet others believe it’s even more than that and see it as a watershed moment where the Hiphop Generation is moving beyond societal-imposed limitations and into realms that will redefine political campaigns as we know them.

For Ball, he recently became a father for the second time this week, the run is more about planting seeds for the younger generation concerning what is possible and how we have a right to determine who speaks for us and those choices extend far beyond who the major parties and corporations say we should vote for.

“The people in this country have a right to have real choices, not a choice between the lesser of two evils or choices dictated to them by the wealthy. That’s what I bring to the table, the awareness that choice can exist,” said Ball. “This not only applies to the two main political parties, but also to independent parties such as the Green Party. Our eventual goal is to take the Green party from just green to red, black, brown and green.”

Related Posts:

• Illinois Green Party: Primaries and the GP Presidential Convention
• Updates on Green Party at Encampment to End the War
• Prez Candidates to speak at anti-war encampment 9/29/07
• Prez candidate rocks the mic 9/28/07
• Nader, McKinney & Brown on CA Green Party Primary
• Jared Ball for President: 2 DC events 9/10/ & 9/21/07
• Daily Greens: Presidential Forum
• The People’s President Page 
• Daily Greens: Press Conference with presidential candidates (video)
• Daily Greens: Green Party Presidential Candidate Forum (video)

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