Although the Pittsburgh Hip Hop Film Festival was a half a week long event, I only got to participate on Saturday and Sunday (not to mention only partially). Still, I think I got a lot out of it, which was great! I have to say that I never realized that there was even an interest in such a Hip Hop activitst culture in the Pittsburgh area. The panel talked about various issues in the black community in general as well as the current state of Hip Hop. Panelists ranged from historians and teachers to other activists. The roots/reality of the stop snitching movement, gender equality, youth education, criminal justicement system, music industry-oriented mainstream hip hop, general racism and class issues were all topics that we talked about.

Hip Hop culture for me is a fascinating subject not only because it contains the genre of music I enjoy greatly, but because of its global appeal to the youth and its potential as an educational medium to them. I really hope there will be more of such events in the Pittsburgh area.