The United Justice Coalition, an outfit assembled by Team Roc and backed by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, will be hosting social justice and thought-leaders for a summit unpacking the U.S. midterm elections this summer.
According to ABC News, the event will happen in New York City on Saturday, July 23rd. The aim is to raise awareness about racial justice and policy issues impacting the American BIPOC population.
Roc Nation’s managing director of philanthropy, Dania Diaz, said, “It is an opportunity for people to really learn about issues that impact their communities — issues that are going to inevitably come up in midterm elections — and hopefully, it’ll drive action.”
Some of the brilliant minds tapped to lead discussions are civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Dream Corps. founder Van Jones, Until Freedom co-founder Tamika Mallory, professor, and author Michael Eric Dyson and radio personality Charlamagne Tha God.
Diaz reminds the world that Hip-Hop and social justice are “synonymous.”
“If you think about it from a lyrical standpoint and from just a cultural standpoint, the voices that drive Hip-Hop and the music and the lyrics and the experiences that are brought to the table are really largely from a social and racial justice lens.
And so I think that when we talk about Hip-Hop, as a vehicle to move culture, it’s also a vehicle to address social justice issues and systemic problems,” Diaz said.
This summer’s meeting is the most recent initiative by Team Roc to speak about social justice issues.
As reported by AllHipHop.com, Jay-Z and Roc Nation created a partnership with the NFL that pushed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to commit the league to spend $100 million over the next ten years on social justice outreach and causes.