HIPHOP SCHOLAR AND RADIO HOST SEES RUN FOR PRESIDENT

Distributed by the DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org

For immediate release


DC Native Seeking to Remix Green Party in Run for
Nomination

LOCAL HIPHOP SCHOLAR AND RADIO HOST SEES RUN FOR
PRESIDENT AS WAY TO MOBILIZE HIPHOP COMMUNITY AND
EXPAND REACH OF GREEN PARTY TO GRASSROOTS
COMMUNITIES


CONTACT: Malik Russell, 202.271.0742

Washington, DC, November 30, 2007:  Prior to
becoming the second African American male to
graduate with a PhD in journalism from the
University of Maryland at College Park, Jared
Ball <http://www.jaredball.com> determined that
his thesis would focus on what he coined "the
emancipatory mixtape."

Ball, saw how the popularity of hiphop mixtapes
distributed through an underground economy could
be utilized to mobilize African American youth
towards activism. Today, in running for the Green
Party nomination, he sees his campaign to expand
their reach of the Greens, relative to the major
political parties functioning similar to the
mixtape relative to products from the major music
labels.

"Our campaign, just like the mixtape, is designed
to reach the grassroots without corporate
backing," said Dr. Ball, professor of
communications at Morgan State University in
Baltimore, Maryland. "We hope to prove that a
message that addresses the issues of the poor,
disenfranchised without comprising to corporate
interests still resonates with people. It's not
just about ending the war in Iraq, it's about a
political will to apply the same type of energy
and resources to the problems of violence,
incarceration, unemployment and despair faced by
young people in America and around the world,"
added Ball.

The current host of the Jazz & Justice show on
Pacifica Radio's Washington DC station WPFW 89.3
FM <http://www.wpfw.org>, he also serves as
editor-at-large for the Words, Beats and life
Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture. Ball is joined
in his revolutionary campaign by DC native and
independent hiphop recording artist Head-Roc
<<http://www.head-roc.com>. According to
Head-Roc, who recently released his new album
"Negrophobia," this campaign is the proper
evolution of the hiphop community, particularly
those who grew up nodding their heads to groups
like Public Enemy, Tribe Called Quest, Gangstarr
and other politically conscious hiphop artists.

"There is still a lot of real hiphop out there,
unfortunately we don't get to hear anything but
the corporate controlled neo-materialistic stuff
on the radio," said Head-Roc. "Our campaign gives
both young and older progressive people, credible
visual references to hip-hop legends that they
automatically can get with and are nostalgic
for," he added.

Ball's campaign has earned enough signatures to
be on the ballot in Illinois and is mobilizing
support for an upcoming tour of California in
December. For many, this accomplishment done on a
shoestring budget with no corporate or big donor
help is a victory in itself. Yet others believe
it's even more than that and see it as a
watershed moment where the Hiphop Generation is
moving beyond societal-imposed limitations and
into realms that will redefine political
campaigns as we know them.

They've generated enough grassroots momentum and
belief in their potential for Anita Rios, the
former co-chair of the National Green Party, to
join them as the senior-campaign manager.

"Jared and Heady provide a meaningful twist to
political campaigning and we hope that this will
grow and change the way that politics is done so
as to change who does politics," remarked Rios.

For Ball, he recently became a father for the
second time this week, the run is more about
planting seeds for the younger generation
concerning what is possible and how we have a
right to determine who speaks for us and those
choices extend far beyond who the major parties
and corporations say we should vote for.

"The people in this country have a right to have
real choices, not a choice between the lesser of
two evils or choices dictated to them by the
wealthy. That's what I bring to the table, the
awareness that choice can exist," said Ball.
"This not only applies to the two main political
parties, but also to independent parties such as
the Green Party. Our eventual goal is to take the
Green party from just green to red, black, brown
and green."

###

For interviews contact: Malik Russell (202)
271-0742 or by email press@jaredball.com

Campaign web site: http://www.jaredball.com/

[Distribution of this release or any other
release by the DC Statehood Green Party does not
imply endorsement of any candidate for the
presidential nomination.]