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.H I P H O P M AT T E R Scelebrity-driven summits the HSAN sponsored, it would likely havea more meaningful impact.A hip-hop political agenda that mat-ters needs to be more strategically focused and requires people wil-ling to do the messy work that emphasizes substantive change overpublicity-seeking media events.Up to this point, the HSAN has gen-erated huge crowds of young people and media attention, but thepower of celebrity cannot sustain a movement or deliver importantpolitical victories by itself.At its heart the HSAN reflects a surprising degree of naiveté regarding hip hop’s political potential.As noble as their intentions may be, Simmons and Chavis Muhammad representa brand of politics that, ultimately, is of little use to hip hop.These and other criticisms notwithstanding the HSAN’s idea oforganizing hip hop’s political potential remains viable.As hip hopimagines and works toward the day it can genuinely impact the con-ditions and institutions that shape the life chances of young people, the political career of the movement becomes even more uncertain.The HSAN’s goal of realizing and cultivating hip hop’s budding po-litical future would be served well by adhering to a principle thatChavis Muhammad professed to hold as he poised himself to revivethe NAACP by making it more relevant to a younger constituency.“You don’t get young people back by just making speeches.You’vegotta get out there in the ’hood.”162 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]