living ideals

A few months ago, when I was talking to someone about attending the Feminism in Hip-Hop conference, he asked me, “Are there any hip-hop feminists?” This weekend has answered his question: hundreds of scholars, activists, journalists, high school teachers, public health workers, students, regular everyday hip-hop feminists, female and male, showed up and built at the University of Chicago. It was enormously important–historical–for both hip-hop and feminism, and I’m further convinced they need each other more than ever.
I wrote 45 pages of notes but I’m exhausted, boarding a plane at 5 am, finishing my EMP paper, fielding deadlines, and probably won’t get to blogging at length for a minute. But I am also inspired, empowered and energized, and want to impart a quote from panelist Joan Morgan, because the real challenge is translating what we learned into real-world work:
“Feminism: I live that shit like a verb.”