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Hip hop, Cuba and political prisoners: what could the three possibly have in common? A sold-out crowd learned this and more at the second-annual Black August Benefit| at New York's Bowery Ballroom on Sunday. While these concepts may seem dissimilar, Black August's creators say they're held together by the common thread of revolution. "Our vision is to utilize the revolutionary art form of Hip-Hop to create awareness around U.S. political>prisoners as well as support Cuban Hip-Hop artists," their mission statement reads. The show's founders chose August for their yearly presentation of its long-standing revolutionary activity: From Nat Turner to Mumia Abu-Jamal, things tend to heat up in August.
Headliners like Black Star, Common, Fat Joe and the Terror Squad and Black Rob were accompanied by special guest Gil Scott-Heron, comedian Sara Jones, the Puerto Rican rap group Tiro de Gracias and an Afro-Cuban drum ensemble. The performance wasn't just a musical display, either: Monifa Akinwole of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement led the audience in a rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday" dedicated to political prisoners, and a video presentation on the revolution encouraged the audience to take action both internationally and nationally. Black Rob burnt a dollar bill to protest capitalism, and urged the audience to take their energy back to the community and help make change. Before Scott-Heron appeared repeating his mantra, "the revolution will not be televised," comedian Jones lit the stage up with her unique version, "the revolution will not happen between these thighs." And although Fat Joe openly admitted he was there "for entertainment purposes," he met with wild applause when he announced that Big Pun had recently lost forty pounds.
Later this month, many of the artists will travel to Havana, where their August 27 performance, which will be broadcast on United States radio. Proceeds from the show will help build a hop-hop library and studio in Havana, and establish an emergency fund for political prisoners in America. - Kristin Cleary