Reverend Jesse Jackson Holds Hip-Hop Town Hall Meeting in Chicago

Yesterday (June 4), Reverend Jesse Jackson held a town hall meeting at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition Conference in Chicago called “Hip-Hop: A Dignified Culture or a Degradation Crisis?” According to CBS2 in Chicago, the event focused on the role of woman in hip-hop music and videos. “If you’re talking about one sister, you’re talking about all sisters,” said Dr. Juliana Malveaux, a professor at Belmont University. “Hip hoppers did not start the misogynist degradation of woman, but they can help stop it,” said Jesse Jackson, who called for boycotts and economic consequences in the battle against holding networks and record labels accountable for degrading lyrics. “It never was right and now we have popularized and commercialized degradation.” According to CBS2, BET Chairman and CEO, Debra Lee, tried to deflect the criticism aimed at BET by claiming market demand is the determining factor on what type of songs and videos are played on BET. “I think the real push is going to have to come from the consumers in terms of not supporting artists if they’re upset about it,” Lee said. In the end, Rev. Jesse Jackson said the goal of the meeting was to make sure fans and consumers are mad enough about the state of hip-hop to demand change.