Hip-hop and health mix at D.R.I.P. Fest
Dej Summerville sat down at the free Umoja Health booth, and as beats from Stunnaman02’s rap set pulsated through the walls she received a COVID booster, blood pressure test and diabetes screening blood prick.
“I have been neglecting my health the last three years, just putting it on the back burner,” said Summerville, a Cal State East Bay student. “This is forcing me to hold myself accountable.”
This was exactly what Khafre Jay had in mind when he decided to merge hip-hop and public health and bring the third iteration of D.R.I.P. Fest to the Western Addition on Saturday afternoon, an event that attracted hundreds of attendees.
Jay, an activist for 15 years, noticed a large number of health organizations offering important services to communities in need, but failing to reach their target.
“I lost a lot of faith in San Francisco voters and collective white empathy,” said Jay, wearing a black “Make Racists Afraid Again” hat and standing in the lobby of the African American Arts and Culture Complex, which hosted Saturday’s event. “I don’t know what will help, all I know is I want Black and brown people to live longer.”
Jay organized an Oakland version, one in the BayviewHunters Point neighborhood, and plans to host a fourth D.R.I.P. (Dropping Resources in Place), focusing on reproductive rights, in the Excelsior district next quarter. Pivotal to each event is incorporating local hip hop artists to draw crowds who often fall through the cracks.
“Hip-hop is the strongest organizing tool we have,” Jay said. “We have a lot of health care groups doing great things, but they have no idea how to create safe spaces.”
Dr. Kim Rhoads, with Umoja Health, catered to a steady
stream of men and women receiving colorectal cancer screenings, diabetes tests, COVID vaccinations and other chronic disease management
advice.
“We’re not brick and mortar, we try to show up where people already are,” Rhoads said.
Francesca Gonzalez teamed up with Jay to gain exposure for her new organization, Freedom Forward, which works to prevent sex trafficking among those 14 to 24 years old. Freedom Forward handed out skin-care and hair-care products, since such basic needs are often an entry point for those looking to traffic young people, she said.
“We’re using D.R.I.P Fest as an outreach tool and use the power of hip-hop to engage with people who can feel unreachable,” Gonzalez said. After attending the last event in the Bayview, Gonzalez said her organization, which is only a year old, saw an uptick in public awareness of its HYPE Center drop-in location on Portrero Avenue.
Charndry Lee, a hair stylist, went to high school with Gonzalez and volunteered to join her friend and offer free hair care.
“I love the atmosphere and knowing I’m doing something good for the community,” Lee said as she braided the hair of Joyce Iulio-Sua of San Francisco.
“I saw these talented, beautiful young ladies and I thought why not,” said IulioSua, who runs Iulio Resources Foundation out of the Bayview focusing on health care, workforce development and street violence prevention. “We’re bringing it together for young entrepreneurs … and combining them together to form the peace, wellness and health in our underserved communities.”
As children painted graffiti with a muralist and musicians performed on stage, Ebony Atlas, a health worker with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, sat in a neighboring hallway and handed out pamphlets about a number of mental health programs.
“A lot of stigma comes with African Americans and mental health. We’re trying to promote that it’s OK,” she said. “No one really knows what we have to offer. So we wanted to use this opportunity for African Americans specifically to know that there’s this program geared toward us.”
And that’s what Jay was hoping for.
“We’re that bridge,” he said. “My North Star is: How do we keep this consistent?”