This weekend, the fifth, and apparently final, Dreamville was held at Dorothea Dix Park. Among the tens of thousands of people at the park, in a small corner of the festival sat a village of nonprofits, one of which being Hip Hop Caucus.
Hip Hop Caucus is a nationwide nonprofit that advocates for liberation and justice by using cultural expression to empower communities affected by injustice. They educate young people about climate justice, democracy voting rights and economic justice.
Malikah French is the development manager for Hip Hop Caucus and has been working for them for about three years. She saw the deficit in philanthropy and education, especially in public and state-funded institutions.
“We do all kinds of equity and advocacy for BIPOC communities and frontline communities,” French said. “That ranges from climate justice … a bunch of social justice movements and voting rights advocacy and then economic justice as well.”
At the festival, Hip Hop Caucus was joined by other organizations such as Dream Go, North Carolina Black Alliance and EARTHGANG Foundation. Some had interactive activities, but Hip Hop Caucus had petitions for people to sign.
“We made a big pledge to voter registration,” French said. “We do a lot of voter registration work, so just acknowledging that voting is important at the local level and committing to signing up for more information. I think that a lot of people would feel things internally and not realize that there’s a place to voice it with the petition.”
This organization is dedicated to teaching the importance of local elections and that voting shouldn’t be seen as only happening every four years.
“I think that it’s really important right now because once a lot of these presidential elections have gone by, people lose a lot of the momentum around voting,” French said. “And voting is not a presidential election thing, it’s an every year thing.”
Aside from voter registration, Hip Hop Caucus advocates for climate and economic justice. They attract people by connecting their cause with hip-hop culture. Brittany Bell Surratt is the senior director of storytelling and connections at Hip Hop Caucus and joined the team because she felt a true connection to its purpose and mission.
“We utilize hip-hop culture to kind of meet folks where they are,” Surratt said. “And sometimes that’s through artists and influencers. Sometimes it’s through the messaging, sometimes through fashion and choreography; just the many different facets of it, to bring people into our work.”
Music is an outlet for many and brings people together — especially at festivals like Dreamville.
“At a place like Dreamville, we’re able to talk to people who are coming from, I think I read all 50 states,” Surratt said. “People come to Dreamville, and they come because the love of hip hop, but we’re then able to, if they come to the nonprofit village, say ‘Hey, you know, there are local elections that are happening in your state, depending on where you’re from.’”
French feels that it’s becoming increasingly essential to actually go to the communities you’re advocating for because you can gain a better understanding of them. A first-hand account helps you see the communities internally and find connection with them.
“It’s actually more imperative to come out, talk to a community, be in that community and kind of see what is most important to them,” French said. “So I think that that’s why, especially now, it’s become magnified because I think elements of what people in the community have wanted for generations came out in the last election.”
Dreamville generated business for over 75 vendors, muralists and Raleigh small businesses, but also gave nonprofit organizations a chance to continue advocating for their cause.
“Having thousands or tens of thousands of people and that traffic there, to be able to do that is very helpful for us,” Surratt said. “It’s a big goal of ours to continue to have it resonate with folks, the importance of local elections, the importance of down-ballot issues and how they affect your everyday life, that sometimes they have more of an impact than who’s in the White House.”
Hip Hop Caucus currently runs a podcast, has a radio show, a YouTube series and even released a documentary about how the climate crisis affects communities of color. For more information, take a look at theirwebsite andInstagram for more events in North Carolina.
