The Black Student Union joined forces with local rappers on Monday, fundraising to send out a message laced with music to SF State students in Malcolm X Plaza.

The BSU organized the Hurricane Katrina Relief Concert as a money and clothing drive for victims of the hurricane. Everything collected will be given directly to displaced people who are now residing in the Bay Area.

Students sitting in the sun-drenched plaza were treated to performances by local favorites San Quinn, Cell Ski, Big Rich and SF State students who wrote original pieces for the event. With DVDs being passed out, beats throbbing over the loudspeaker and CDs being thrown from the stage, the event had a festive atmosphere; however, the impassioned appeals from speakers for donations in the intervals between the music highlighted the fact that a tragedy had brought everyone together.

Through hip-hop music the BSU wanted to make SF State students aware that there are still many people displaced by Katrina who need help and there are plenty of ways for students to help the effort.

“Right now the strongest thing we have is hip hop,” said Derrick Washington, 25, a criminal justice major and member of the BSU. “We use it as a vehicle for a political message.”

The idea for the event was a collective one by the BSU. They contacted the performers, who not only performed at the event for free, but donated clothes and money. The organization felt that this was the best way to reach people, since hip-hop listeners cross many cultural lines.

The speakers included Chris Jackson, an SF State senior and president of Associated Students Inc., Matthew Clark, who was visiting campus to talk about his Katrina fundraising bike ride from San Jose to Long Beach, sponsored by Habitat for Humanity, and different members of the BSU.

JB Da Original, a 27-year-old San Francisco rapper, is friends with Washington and said he was glad to help out because he has family in Louisiana that was affected.

“(The concert) brings more unity,” he said. “We could have an earthquake out here… and we got to look out for them like they would look out for us.”

Rapper, San Quinn, 26, wanted to get involved in the efforts to help Katrina victims before, but he wanted to make sure his money was actually getting to the victims. When Washington tapped him to perform he was assured his efforts would benefit the people who need it most.

“I came (here) because I hadn’t done anything, I didn’t give anything and I didn’t take anything anywhere,” Quinn said onstage, before his performance.

Students, like Khemner Fisher, a grad student in education in his 30s, donated items to other relief drives on campus. Although he said he enjoyed the entertainment, he was more interested in the BSU’s organizing efforts.

“(This event) is important to generate more awareness of what’s going on,” he said. “But once people are aware, they need to know what to do and that’s where organization comes in.”

The donation table had a stream of students who made cash donations and the clothing table had several folded piles, as well as entire bags of clothes. A rapper who performed with JB Da Original made a dollar donation to the BSU relief fund for every CD he sold.
Overall the BSU thought the event was successful.

“It was a quick response and it was something we had in our arsenal,” Washington said summing up the event. “And it’s not over, it’s just the beginning.”

For more information about the drive you can contact the BSU office at 338-1933.