Hip Hop Caucus Mobilizes Young People in Urban Communities

Support President Obama's United We Serve Initiative

Summer of Service Creates Opportunity for Hip Hop Caucus Members

President Obama and the White House have kicked off a new summer-long service initiative,United We Serve, to get all Americans to give back to their country. As a part of United We Serve, the Hip Hop Caucus is encouraging young people in urban communities to participate in service projects over the summer, to immediately impact their communities and to gain valuable experiences to help them in their lives.

United We Serve, beginning June 21 and running through September 11, will grow into a sustained, collaborative, and focused effort to promote service as a way of life for all Americans. The Hip Hop Caucus sees this nationwide service initiative as a way to help meet growing social needs resulting from the economic downturn. The Hip Hop Caucus will be mobilizing our nearly 700,000 members across the nation to give back by participating in Opportunity Corps, a service and community development program of the Hip Hop Caucus.

"United We Serve and together we succeed, the Hip Hop Caucus is leading the way for service and volunteering in the 21st century," said Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., President of the Hip Hop Caucus.

As part of the United We Serve initiative, the Hip Hop Caucus will be launching Green the Block on August 4, 2009, a national grassroots campaign, to fight poverty and pollution at the same by creating green jobs to green our cities and transition to a clean energy economy. On, September 11, 2009, National Service Day and the culmination of United We Serve's Summer of service, the Hip Hop Caucus will coordinate Green the Block service events in cities around the country. Watch thefeature segment that CNN aired about the Hip Hop Caucus Green the Block campaign.

About The Hip Hop Caucus The Hip Hop Caucus is a non-partisan organization that works to ensure the voice of the Hip Hop Generation is heard by engaging them in the political process. Through the use of grassroots organizing and celebrity spokespeople, the Hip Hop Caucus looks to mobilize young people on key issues such as the economy, clean energy, jobs, education, and healthcare. The President of the Hip Hop Caucus, Rev. Yearwood, was the co-creator of the 2004 campaign "Vote or Die" with Sean "P Diddy" Combs, former Political and Grassroots Director for Russell Simmons' Hip Hop Summit Action Network, and a Senior Consultant to Jay Z's "Voice Your Choice" initiative.

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