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Treat Voting as a Fad, and It Will Suffer the Same Fate

By Michael Arceneaux
Black College Wire

As the presidential election draws closer, an effort to bolster the voting power of the hip-hop community has intensified. Many influential figures of the hip-hop community, including Russell Simmons and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, have used their clout to orchestrate large voter-registration drives through such organizations as the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and Citizen Change, respectively.

Additionally, artists such as Mary J. Blige, Monica, Chingy and Ashanti, among others, have joined forces to record tracks such as "Wake Up Everybody" with the same goal as Simmons and Combs -- to increase voter turnout among young black Americans.

While they should all be commended for giving their time and effort to such a worthy cause, I have a few qualms about this "movement."

For one, the emphasis is on voter registration rather than voter education. Voting is even more empowering if you actually understand what's going on in the political world before you enter the voting booth. A voter registration card is the first step.

The second, and arguably the more important, is to become educated on the candidates and the issues.

Perhaps in the same way we learned to walk, we can simply crawl and make baby steps until we learn to stand on our own two feet. However, as pertinent as this year's election is, do we really have that kind of time? Already, it appears that these efforts are likely to display the same problem that plagues much of hip-hop: elevating image over substance.

Voting is being made out to be the latest trend in hip-hop, and most trends die. The now- infamous "Vote or Die" campaign by Combs and Citizen Change employs the same flashy marketing tactics that Combs uses to promote his Bad Boy artists. Likewise, Simmons' Hip Hop Summit Action Network stages concerts and summits with a bevy of hip-hop's top stars to bring awareness to the cause.

While their methods do garner attention, what is going to keep us interested in politics after the election? What is being said about the specific issues that affect our community by the artists promoting voting? So far, nothing at all.

This brings me to another problem: Many of these artists, including P.Diddy, Mary J. Blige, Monica and Andre 3000, have all admittedly voted only once or never at all. Maybe it's the cynic in me, but I find it difficult to relate to the people stressing the importance of voting who have not practiced what they preach.

While everyone's heart may be in the right place, the current methodology may ultimately do more harm than good.

During the late 1980s, hip-hop, specifically acts such as Public Enemy, instilled a sense of black pride in the listener. Unfortunately, what was then viewed as a movement is now looked upon as a fad.

Michael Arceneaux is a student at Howard University who writes for The Hilltop.

Posted Sept. 7, 2004