Oakland's HipHopForChange founder sets stage for education, empowerment through Hip Hop culture

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- The four principles of Hip Hop Culture are peace, love, unity, and having fun. Rooted in these core pillars, HipHopForChange Inc (HH4C) is reclaiming Hip Hop culture as a vehicle for education, empowerment, and cultural innovation.

"The biggest misconception is that Hip Hop is music, it's not, it's a culture," described Khafre Jay, Founder & Executive Director of HH4C.

Hailing from Hunters Point, Jay is a musical artist and community organizer dedicated to merging activism and expressive cultural arts. In 2013, he founded HH4C with the mission of uplifting voices and advocating for social justice.

Since its founding, Jay has employed over one thousand people in his community, raising over three million dollars to advance social justice and Hip Hop activism in the Bay Area.

As the largest Hip Hop education 501(c)(3) in the nation, the nonprofit focuses on providing positive representations of Hip Hop Culture for youth while utilizing Hip Hop as a medium for storytelling.

"Think about Black art, Black culture because that's the healing thing for our youth, that's the thing that will actually bring us together since everybody loves Hip Hop," said Jay.

The organization advocates for systemic change by providing community solutions through Hip Hop culture, including implementing grassroots organizing, arts programming, educational events, and more.

HH4C also works with state and local partners such as the City of Oakland, the California Arts Council, the Zellerbach Foundation, the Sierra Club, and others that emphasize the importance of arts and culture in POC communities.

"The only thing we can bank on as Black and Brown people is our artistic creative expression," said Jay.

He added, "Giving kids the access to that thing that can never be taken away them, but then giving them the tools to capitalize off of that in this world. That's safety, that's self-determination, that's what we're pushing for at HipHopForChange."

To get involved and learn more about HipHopForChange, visit here.

Go here to donate and support the HH4C mission.

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