Hip-Hop 4 Flint standing in solidarity with the people of Flint, MI during their water crisis.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

March 9, 2016
Instagram: @hiphop4flint
Twitter: @hiphop4flint
#HIPHOP4FLINT

Queen YoNasDa Leads Global Hip-Hop Community in the Fundraising Campaign “Hip-Hop 4 Flint” in Response to the Water Crisis in Flint, Michigan

On Saturday, March 19, 2016, 52 cities around the world will participate in a global fundraising initiative in solidarity and support for the people of Flint, Michigan. The effort will bring together the hip-hop community in partnership with a non-profit, Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church. Hip-Hop 4 Flintwill gather local, national, and international hip-hop artists, journalists, activists, educators and supporters to raise funds to purchase water filters for homes in Flint, MI. This event is being led by YoNasDa Lonewolf, emcee, published writer, and activist who focuses her work on human rights, indigenous rights, and social justice. YoNasDa was the creator of Hip-Hop 4 Haiti and an executive committee member of Justice or Else!, the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March, led by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

In 2014, while the city was under the control of a state appointment emergency manager, the city switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. The city saw a sharp increase in lead levels that were well above the EPA’s standards of safety, exposing the city’s 9,000 children to water that was classified as toxic waste. This city deemed the water unfit for consumption and declared a citywide state of emergency. To help address the situation, the Hip-Hop 4 Flint coalition will host a global fundraising event on March 19, 2016, to raise funds to purchase home water filtration systems for residents that will filter both lead and bacteria throughout the entire home, making the water safe for both consumption and washing. Each city will gather their leaders and youth in the hip-hop community to host an event to collect monetary donations to purchase water filters. All donations will go towards the purchase of filters which will be delivered personally, home by home, to the residents of Flint by the Hip-Hop 4 Flint delegation.

Hip-Hop 4 Flint will bring together notable hip-hop artists such as Mysonne,Nappy Roots, GLC of G.O.O.D. Music, Rahzel the Beatboxer, Kaleena from Love & Hip-Hop, Jon Connor of Aftermath, Hakim Green from Channel Live, Du “Doitall” Kelly of the Legendary Lords of the Underground, and local artists from each city to join hearts and hands in support of the people of Flint. Events will take place simultaneously in Flint, Detroit, and Grand Rapids, MI, New York City (taking place on March 22nd) and Long Island, NY, Chicago, Bloomington and Peoria, IL, Philadelphia, Newark, NJ (taking place on April 2nd), Baltimore, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach, FL, Dakar, Senegal, Toronto and Montreal, Canada, Boston, New Bedford, and Springfield, MA, Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Durham, NC, Providence, Bisbee and Phoenix, AZ, Washington, D.C., Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, TX, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, St. Louis and Kansas City, MO, Little Rock, Los Angeles and San Diego, CA, Cincinnati and Columbus, OH, Hampton and Richmond, VA, Greenville, SC, Memphis and Nashville, TN, Denver, Bridgeport, CT, Montgomery, AL, Portland, OR, and Hawaii and will be streamed online via UStream and broadcast through media partner allhiphop.com and Stagehound TV.

We are also partnering with human rights activist organizations Justice League NYC and Unite or Die. Justice League NYC says, “We are proud to partner with YoNasDa and other organizers across the country for Hip-Hop 4 Flint. We have been working very closely with the people of Flint and understand the urgency of the disaster. An collaboration like Hip-Hop 4 Flint will get much-needed supplies to families who are in dire need.”

To help the cause, we have partnered with emcees OCKZ, SKYZOO, and QUADIR LATEEF who will donate 20% of the proceeds from the "Rise Up" iTunes single to #HIPHOP4FLINT - the single sells for $.99 on iTunes. "RISE UP" is also an emcee's lament on the State of America and recent atrocities like the #FlintWaterCrisis.

The strength that Hip-Hop encompasses around the world will bring together the community like no other, because Hip-Hop is UNIVERSAL!

If you would like to organize your city for this historic event, please email National Convener YoNasDa Lonewolf at hiphop4flint@gmail.com. For more information visit www.hiphop4flint.com.

For press information, interviews and more, please contact Marcy S. DePina at msdepina@gmail.com or Tamika Mallory at malloryconsultingllc@gmail.com.

To make monetary and water filter donations, please direct towards: