Striking a nerve in the Hip Hop community, two instrumental members of President Barack Obama’s administration were attacked in the media, labeled as “radical” and ideas compared to “Nazi propaganda.” Anthony “Van” Jones, Special Advisor for Green Jobs, who announced his resignation on September 6, and now Yosi Sergant, Director of Communications of the National Endowment for the Arts, have been the topic of conversation on internet blogs, talk radio, and news stations, causing most controversy with Fox political commentator Glenn Beck.
Jones resigned from his position within Obama’s administration following an attack in which Beck referenced Color of Change, an African American political advocacy group co-founded by Jones, and accused him of being a radical and a communist. Globally recognized as a community organizer, Jones has used Hip Hop culture as a vehicle to promote awareness among young people to combat injustice and inequality. The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, another organization co-founded by Jones, has been monumental in community organizing and activism, paving the way for a new generation of Hip Hop activists in the mid ’90s with projects like Third Eye Movement and Silence the Violence. The Ella Baker Center has also funded various Hip Hop compilation albums including Shame The Devil: Hip Hop Tells The Truth About The Prison Industrial Complex featuring Zion I [click to read] and Amp Live, and Wartimes: Reports From the Opposition featuring artists like Goapele and CES One, with commentary from Jones himself and political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
East coast emcee and political activist, Jasiri X, as well as Hip Hop journalist and author, Jeff Chang, have both openly voiced their opinions about Jones’ resignation. Jasiri recently posted a video on his Myspace page titled The Crucifixion of Van Jones which streams clips of Jones, Beck and Obama. On Chang’s blog, he discussed Jones’ role in the community, “[Van Jones] brought inner-city youths to anti-prisons and environmental justice agendas using Hip Hop.”
Not long after Jones was attacked, Beck accused the entire NEA of promoting art as propaganda similar to that of Nazi Germany, in response to Sergant organizing artists for Obama’s United We Serve, a national service program, dedicated to the recovery and renewal of the community. After the accusations, Sergant, who acted as the Director of Communications for the NEA, was asked to step down and re-assigned to a different position within the agency. Sergant, who notably branded the HOPE image of Obama during his Presidential campaign, has been a key figure in the community as a Hip Hop activist and graffiti artist. As Communications Director, he respectively organized a meeting at the White House between grassroots artists and Hip Hop supporters including Saul Williams, Mayda Del Valle, Kofie and Chang. In an interview at the White House, Sergant told Chang, “Spray-paint brought me to the NEA and I won’t forget that.”
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With the recent attacks initated by Beck, targeting members of Obama’s administration that are committed community organizers and leaders within the Hip Hop community, many are questioning the commentator’s motives. “Beck‘s agenda is unveiling itself–he means to go hard after the progressives in the Obama Administration whose work engages grassroots movements and reaches people and communities directly through media and the arts,” said Chang, in a responsive article in the Huffington Post [click here].
There has been no word from Jones since his resignation about what is on his political agenda for the future. While a spokesperson for the White House has released a statement validating Sergant’s demotion, “[Sergant] has not left the National Endowment for the Arts. He remains with the agency, although not as director of communications,” no comments have been made about what his position will be.
