Young, Gifted, and Jobless:Hip Hop Culture and Youth Unemployment

I wrote this article for The Oakland Post 4 years ago, and ironically, it is even more relevent today.
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Youth unemployment in the black community has long been a subject of discussion, but rarely the subject of public discussion.

But questions like, “What is it about urban youth that turns employers off?” and “Is it a discriminatory issue or do today's youth simply lack required skills to gain/keep employment?” These questions and more were brought to the foreground in a recent panel discussion entitled “Young, Gifted, and Jobless: Hip Hop Culture and Youth Unemployment” held at Oakland City Hall two weeks ago.

Sponsored by the Oakland Workforce Investment Board Youth Council, the forum was aimed at the hip-hop generation, employers, and professionals in the field of youth employment in an effort to shed light on the low percentage of young workers.

“Anyone familiar with Hip Hop and the Hip Hop culture can understand what a 'hustler' mentality is” said panelist Monique Morris, author and director of the Discrimination Research Center. “You can't say that today's youth don't want to work. They have a strong work ethic, and are willing to work or 'hustle' to take care of themselves.”

A willingness to “hustle” is nothing new to the Hip Hop generation; however, a nine to five job doesn't seem to be too appealing to today's youth, especially after growing up and seeing the “bad guys” (pimps, drug dealers, etc.) with the nicest cars and jewelry, as showcased in many songs by some of today's top artists. Jay-Z's rhyme, "Y'all lunchin', punchin' a clock my function is low, make much 'n' lay back munchin', sippin' remy on rocks, my crew somethin' to watch nothin' to stop unstoppable”, from his Hip Hop classic “Can't Knock the Hustle”, exemplifies the hustler spirit and resistance to what society sees as an acceptable occupation.

In spite of the perception that many rappers have hustled their way to fame, panelmoderator Gregory Hodge pointed out that many hip- hop icons are college graduates themselves.

“P.Diddy went to Howard University, Chuck D has a degree in Economics, Russell Simmons is a college graduate, and David Banner has a Master's Degree,” said Hodge.

There is no doubt that going to college can broaden a young person's options as far as career choices go. However, as Panelist Dereca Blackmon, executive director of Leadership Excellence, Inc., asserted, many of today's youth have valuable skills that they use on the streets, which could be transferred over.

“A drug dealer has the ability to package and move large quantities, they have great communication skills, work well with large groups of people, many skills employers want in a worker,” said Blackmon.

There are a countless number of attributes the Hip Hop generation has that can be useful in the work force: the ability to retain information, categorization skills, analyzing lyrics increases the vocabulary immensely. So why are young people with such natural gifts like these overlooked when it comes to employment? “The issue is trust,” said panelist Olis Simmons, executive director of The Youth Uprising Center. “There is a strong fear of today's youth, especially black men.”

Simmons said the issue is also respect--a lack of it. “There is a lack of respect on both sides,” said Simmons. There is a lack of respect for the elders, and what they have been through and there is also a lack of respect for today's young people and what they have to offer.” The lack of respect is often engendered from the notion that the Hip Hop generation can't or refuses to act properly in a professional setting.

One young observer shed light on this problem. “Here's the truth; if you're going to Mexico, you need to know Spanish. If you go to the 'hood, you need to know how to communicate with your people. When you go out for a job, you need to know how to speak in a professional way. And a lot of people think that if you talk that way, or try to 'sound white,' you're not keepin' it real or you're 'selling out'. What we need to do is learn how to code change. You see Diddy and Jay-Z on T.V. talking and dressing the way we do, but you better believe that when they're in those boardrooms talking to them rich white people, that they know how to put on a suit and speak correctly, and it doesn't make them any less credible in the streets.”

But according to Morris of the Discrimination Research Center, discrimination plays a role as well. “Some employers will try to get you by asking questions at the interview that have nothing to do with your skills as a worker, your ability to work with others, any thing relevant,” said Morris. “They'll see that you ?t their preconceived thought of what a bad worker is, and begin to ask questions like 'Are you on welfare?' and whatever else they can think of. You were good enough over the phone, but once they see you it's a different situation.”

Whether the cause of high unemployment for young people is because of discrimination by employers, or laziness on the part of today's youth, or a combination of both, at the very least the panel allowed for a genuine and concrete discussion of an issue that's on everyone's mind.