Hip Hop Congress rocks IU, expresses opinions in hopes of world change

The process of forming an organization at IU is as simple as filling out a listing card with the Student Activities Office. Over 400 student organizations are listed with the office annually. One of these organizations is the Hip Hop Congress.\nFive chapters now exist in the U.S. as well as several delegate or seed groups on six continents. Senior Ron Gubitz, one of the founders of the national organization, was responsible for creating the IU chapter.\nHip Hop Congress aims to incorporate all elements of hip hop culture into the organization to give everyone the opportunity to express themselves and bring about change.\n"I think what\'s so great about hip hop is all it takes is a table, your voice and your ideas. It's very organic, very free and very democratic in the best form of the word," Gubitz said. "It allows anyone (who) has anything to say to say it."\nGubitz said he started the social activism aspect of Hip Hop Congress with a friend while he was a student at the University of Southern California.\n"It's opened my eyes up to so many new people and music," Guerrero said. "Hip hop can reach beyond cultural or language barriers."\n"(Hip hop) allows people to use hip hop as a forum and as a microphone to get their point across and use it to make some positive changes in the world," Gubitz said.\nIn 1994, a group of hip hop artists came together to form the music aspect of Hip Hop Congress. When the two groups learned of each other they decided to bring both aspects together to form the Hip Hop Congress.\nSince the nationwide organization was founded, the four board members have only been in the same room one time. They rely mainly on e-mail and telephone lines for communicating ideas between each other and between chapters.\nIU chapter president Alex Fruchter, a sophomore, said the main goal of Hip Hop Congress is bringing people together. \nFruchter and Gubitz said hip hop often carries with it a negative stigma of violence and other harmful messages. One of the organization's goals is to educate people about hip hop.\n"People who don't like it really don't know about it," Fruchter said.\nSophomore Adriana Guerrero, IU chapter treasurer, said she did not know very much about hip hop before becoming involved with Hip Hop Congress.\nThe organization's mission statement is: "We are a forum for all people to express their opinions, ideas, hopes and dreams, with the intentions of making words into actions, with the goal of changing the world into a better place."\nFruchter said hip hop is a way to bring about this change.\n"Hip hop culture lends itself to social change and that's what we're looking for," Fruchter said.\nHip hop culture includes everything from poetry (rapping), art (graffiti art), dance (break dance) and music (DJ) as well as community action, according to the group's Web site.\nWhile it was relatively easy to become a student organization at IU, the local chapter has faced some difficulties. They have been successful with fundraising through Union Board as well as the student governments in dorms, though it is an ongoing process, Gubitz said.\n"People don't want to give hip hop credibility," Gubitz said. \nWhen he initially met with an IU official about the organization, Gubitz said he felt the administrator was unable to see past the words "hip hop." \nBut since that meeting, there has been progress. Gubitz said the Religious Studies department has helped them, and through co-sponsoring events they have been able to get more publicity.\n"It's not just (about) hip hop, it's about the world," Gubitz said.