Jasiri X

Name: Jasiri X Location: Pittsburgh, PA MC, Activist, Entrepreneur, Blogger, & Creator of the online Hip-Hop video news series "This Week With Jasiri X"

A little about me

MC, Activist and Entrepreneur, Jasiri X burst on the International Hip-Hop scene with the controversial hit song “FREE THE JENA 6″, which was named “Hip-hop Political Song of the Year”. He recently became the first Hip-Hop artist to receive the August Wilson Center for African American Culture Fellowship. As President of LYRICS Inc. Jasiri successfully navigates communication with youth and adults showing the pros and cons of this growing phenomenon called Hip-Hop. A 6 time Pittsburgh Hip-Hop award winner Jasiri is currently working on Season 4 of his highly successful series online Hip-Hop news series “This Week With Jasiri X” and preparing to release his sophomore album “The Ascension” with acclaimed producer Rel!g!ion on Wandering Worx Entertainment.

I would describe myself as a

blogger

Why I deserve a Netroots Nation Scholarship

I truly believe that Hip-Hop, which played a huge role in the 2008 election, will play an even bigger one in 2012. Hip-Hop is the perfect medium to frame messages in innovative ways thereby reaching youth all over the world. Thankfully, I have been able to achieve a measure of success by taking progressive ideas and putting them to a beat, from, "What if the Tea Party was Black", to "American Workers vs. Multi-Billionaires". I think it’s absolutely necessary that the progressive online community engage the Hip-Hop community to ensure greater participation from youth, especially from African-American and Latino communities. I also believe I have a lot to learn about political policies that effect my neighborhood on a daily basis and I desire to learn how to maximize the use of technology to become a more effective organizer. Attending Netroots Nation will allow me to network with experts from diverse fields to achieve a deeper understanding of issues and learn the best practices from the brightest minds in the country. Unfortunately, because I’m a rap artist with a message, I don’t have a major record label backing me with a big budget, so I need your help to get to Minneapolis. This is such an important conference because we’re heading into what will be the craziest election season of all time. I would hate to miss it!

I manage these blogs

Real Talk Xpress

The blogs I use most are

Think Progress
All Hip-Hop

What first inspired me to get involved

In Pittsburgh we have a radio station that plays Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity back to back to back. Listening to how they distort the truth made me want to fight back and inspired me to create my Hip-Hop news series "This Week With Jasiri X".

How I've gotten others involved

I see the music I make as the soudtrack to a lot of the political activism people are doing all over the world. I get messages everyday from people who were inspired by videos I have done to each get involved or keep up the fight.

The blog post I am most proud of

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/21/947833/-How-Fate-Brought-a-Hip-Hop-Pioneer-and-a-Activist-MC-to-Madison,-Wisconsin

Why I think participation in the blogosphere is important

It's important because it gives people a way to dialogue and get information outside of the mainstream media that to often is bought and paid for by huge corporations. The blogosphere is where I found out about many of the stories and news that is most important to me and my community

More about my volunteer work

In Pittsburgh we started a anti-violence organization called One Hood. We use Hip-Hop as a way to bring neighborhoods together for peaceful interaction.