With discussions of “the race card” – Can we finally bury that phrase along with all its variations? – spiking up in the presidential election, Jeff Chang’s Zentronix blog is mandatory reading.  Chang’s Can’t Stop Won’t Stop is a powerful history of hip-hop, one that carefully and intelligently centralizes the various social and political contexts that are crucial to its development, and he brings the same wisdom to his blog. He is also likely reading sources you’re not, so Zentronix is a useful resource to a broader spectrum of thought and news. His current post on the aftermath of the National Hip-Hop Political Convention and Ludacris’ “Obama is Here” links to this smart take by Bakari Kitwana on the role of hip-hop in the national political debate:

All three organizations, should do themselves and their movement a favor by articulating loudly and clearly hip-hop’s moral center: that hip-hop political organizers are concerned about the negative representations of women, that criminal lifestyles aren’t something youth should emulate, and that young Black, Brown and poor people are concerned about the future of their families and are committed to placing the interest of children first.

To do so will align this emerging voting bloc with Black political movements before them and win allies in the process. But perhaps more important, it will go a long way in helping distance their noble cause from the profit motive of the music industry. It will also distinguish them from the few individuals willing to peddle hyper sexual and violent imagery at the expense of those fighting for an America where young people have a bright future.