{"id":30474,"date":"2026-05-04T07:35:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=30474"},"modified":"2026-05-04T07:35:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:35:45","slug":"hip-hop-for-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/04\/hip-hop-for-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Hip Hop for the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HTWTF-Episode-203-Blog-Images.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-30475 size-full\" title=\"Beth Barany and Khafre Jay\" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HTWTF-Episode-203-Blog-Images.png\" alt=\"Image of Beth Barany and Khafre Jay for Hip Hop for the Future\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HTWTF-Episode-203-Blog-Images.png 300w, https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HTWTF-Episode-203-Blog-Images-80x80.png 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HTWTF-Episode-203-Blog-Images-1.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-30476 size-full aligncenter\" title=\"Quote from Hip Hop for the Future\" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HTWTF-Episode-203-Blog-Images-1.png\" alt=\"Quote from Hip Hop for the Future \" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HTWTF-Episode-203-Blog-Images-1.png 300w, https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HTWTF-Episode-203-Blog-Images-1-80x80.png 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hip Hop for the Future &#8211; How To Write the Future podcast, episode 203<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI&#8217;m trying to make sure we have artists, the next generation people who can get to the open mic for the first time and learn how to hold a microphone\u201d &#8211; Khafre Jay<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the latest How To Write the Future podcast episode, titled <\/span><b>\u201cHip Hop for the Future\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> host Beth Barany interviews hip hop organizer Khafre Jay where they discuss the importance of hip hop as a culture within the San Francisco Bay Area and his plans for the future to get more community members involved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From his business creating slogan clothing, to building local creative spaces to his beliefs on public health and the impact live music can have on an audience, this episode is sure to broaden your horizons on the entire hip hop culture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Platforms the podcast is available on:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/203-hip-hop-for-the-future\/id1641025914?i=1000765996471\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2012061\/episodes\/19118034-203-hip-hop-for-the-future\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Buzzsprout<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/1t3ppErhRvWxI2eg7lgPSX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a>|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Sug11d_gRKE?si=D6E1BdoUVUTEYH5e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Sug11d_gRKE?si=D6E1BdoUVUTEYH5e\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><script type='text\/javascript' charset='utf-8' src='https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2012061.js?container_id=buzzsprout-large-player&#038;player=large'><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RESOURCES\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Creativity as Strategy: Lessons from Khafre Jay<\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/13\/creativity-as-strategy-lessons-from-khafre-jay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/13\/creativity-as-strategy-lessons-from-khafre-jay\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>FOR CREATIVE WRITING PROFESSIONALS &#8211; BUILD YOUR BUSINESS SERVING WRITERS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sign up to be notified when our training opens and get a short Creative Business Style Quiz to help you create success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bethbarany.com\/apprenticeship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/bethbarany.com\/apprenticeship\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Support our work for creatives!<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buy me a coffee:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING &#8211; START HERE<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers:<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/world-building-resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/world-building-resources\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>GET SUPPORT FOR YOUR FICTION WRITING BY A NOVELIST AND WRITING TEACHER AND COACH<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/discovery-call\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/discovery-call\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About the How To Write the Future podcast\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How To Write The Future<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers. This podcast is for readers too if you\u2019re at all curious about the future of humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This podcast is for you if you have questions like:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; How do I figure out what&#8217;s not working if my story feels flat?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; How do I make my story more interesting and alive?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This podcast is for readers, too, if you\u2019re at all curious about the future of humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About Khafre Jay\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Khafre_Headshot_-_Khafre_James.webp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-30477 size-medium\" title=\"Khafre Jay\" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Khafre_Headshot_-_Khafre_James-300x216.webp\" alt=\"Khafre Jay\" width=\"300\" height=\"216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Khafre_Headshot_-_Khafre_James-300x216.webp 300w, https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Khafre_Headshot_-_Khafre_James.webp 577w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hailing from Hunters Point, San Francisco\u2014a city with the highest income inequality in the nation\u2014Khafre Jay has dedicated his life to fighting for socioeconomic justice and empowering his community through Hip Hop organizing. Over two decades, his grassroots efforts have employed nearly 1,000 community members, educated over 35,000 K-12 youth, and directed more than $8 million into underserved communities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now leading Hip Hop For The Future SPC, Khafre is pioneering the use of Hip Hop to reimagine public healthcare, aiming to increase Black life expectancy and bring transformative resources to marginalized populations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hiphopforthefuturespc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hiphopforthefuturespc<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/khafrej\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/khafrej\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instagram:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/khafrejay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/khafrejay\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/khafrejay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/khafrejay\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TikTok:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@theunapologeticblackguy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@theunapologeticblackguy<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Album:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/us\/album\/critical-race-hip-hop\/1757033018\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/music.apple.com\/us\/album\/critical-race-hip-hop\/1757033018<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Website:<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hiphopforthefuture.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">http:\/\/www.hiphopforthefuture.org<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transcript for Hip Hop for the Future: Write Brave\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Welcome Intro\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>BETH BARANY:<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hi everyone. Welcome to How to Write the Future Podcast. I&#8217;m Beth Barany, an award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer, published writer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I&#8217;m also a writing teacher and creative entrepreneur trainer. This podcast loves to explore all things future, which is really about now. Little secret. It&#8217;s really about now, but it&#8217;s about what we can do now to make our futures better. And I am a positive, optimistic person overall, and I love talking with other people who are also looking towards building better futures for all of us.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So I&#8217;m so, so, so excited to introduce to you, today a local talent here in the San Francisco Bay area and educator.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And yes, I love your hat. We&#8217;re gonna have you talk about that too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Khafre Jay who runs a fabulous organization here in the San Francisco Bay Area, Hip Hop For the Future. Welcome so much, Khafre. I&#8217;m really happy to have you here. You and I met on the street in my neighborhood<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best way, right?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And I&#8217;ve been supporting artists. Hip hop artists for a long time and I was so happy to be able to support you guys and, and bring you on to hip hop, um, to how to write the future. So can you introduce yourself for us?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[01:13] Meet Khafre Jay\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>KHAFRE JAY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Yeah. My name is Khafre Jay. I&#8217;m a Hip Hop organizer, angry black man from Hunters Point, San Francisco. A little forgotten about spot on the southeast side. But yeah, I&#8217;m, I&#8217;m just a man who&#8217;s been trying to save my culture, and empower my community for my entire adult life, and I&#8217;ve just been figuring out how. That&#8217;s it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BETH BARANY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Yeah. Awesome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[01:32] Hat Slogans Humor\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And for those of you listening, you wanna tell us what&#8217;s on your hat?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>KHAFRE JAY<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Oh yea. This is my make racist afraid again, hat. I have a clothing line called Critical Race Threads. And you know, I I, I don&#8217;t really wear Nike signs or, you know, too many labels, but I, I feel like not only do I want to know who&#8217;s my friend, first and foremost before I even waste my, my energy on them, but yeah, I also got some funny things to say so people just know where I&#8217;m coming from. I can make people think. I have a shirt that says, dear police, I&#8217;m a white woman. And, as a man who got beat up twice at gunpoint by the SFPD before I was 17 in San Francisco, messages like that I think are important especially if they&#8217;re framed in a way that doesn&#8217;t create too much defensiveness. So, yeah.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BETH BARANY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Yeah. And I think you had some either a T-shirt or was on your clipboard, something like, white women. White women come support us, or something like that. Like if you&#8217;re a white woman.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>KHAFRE JAY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I mean we\u2019re not gonna make it about White women. White women have been a historical power node for America, for its movements, for its policy. So, that&#8217;s why you always catch me out in some random white neighborhood where people don&#8217;t really look like me, calling people in and calling people out of course.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BETH BARANY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Yeah, yeah, of course. And you do it with humor, with love, with music. And, I, I love the name of your organization, Hip Hop for the Future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[02:48] Why Hip Hop Future\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can you tell us a little bit why you chose that name?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>KHAFRE JAY: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I mean everything comes through people&#8217;s experiences. And my experience as a hip hop cultured person from San Francisco is told through gentrification, you know what I&#8217;m saying? Much like hop to the Fillmore. It is happening right now in terms of hip hop culture. And for those who don&#8217;t know, hip hop is not rap.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is not. Hip hop is how I walk, talk, dress, paint, think, act, dance. It&#8217;s something I can&#8217;t take off. Like people know I&#8217;m talking hip hop, they know I look hip hop &#8217;cause I dress in our fashion style. We have an environment and the ecosystem hip hop is birthed from that necessitates certain entrepreneurial styles to access equity and capital.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You know what I&#8217;m saying? So we have a whole culture. It has norms, it has rules. You know culture has never really been commodified, authentically. I mean especially when black people who make up the majority of, you know, hip hop cultural norms and rules, we have no wealth to dictate how white media has ever represented any facet of hip hop culture. And the most commodifiable part of that is hip hop, rap music specifically, right?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, we&#8217;ve never dictated how blues looked on white media or how rock and roll did, or how disco did, or you know, how funk did or none of this. And I think people just think that hip hop is so on point, in representing young black culture. And culture in these hoods. And it just, it&#8217;s, it&#8217;s a farce to me. So when I see, black people go from 13% of the population in the eighties when I was born, to now about 5% of the population, but we make up 38.7% of the homeless in that gilded San Francisco city. And that&#8217;s, that&#8217;s erasure. It is. And so in spots that we wrapped that for 30 years in Oakland, they&#8217;re doing karaoke seven nights a week now lights on. For a different community. Now, it&#8217;s a wrap. It&#8217;s a wrap. It is not a smart business model to bank on black culture in the Bay Area. It is just, it&#8217;s not, it doesn&#8217;t work anymore. So in order for us to have access to our culture, in its truest forms, &#8217;cause real talk, black people don&#8217;t have any efficacy in any facet of culture in society except our culture, you know what I&#8217;m saying? So any, any efficacy in any aspect of society except with our culture. So I&#8217;m just fighting to preserve spaces for that. That costs money. Money, you know, for black folks is like a revolutionary thing for us to amass enough money or a strategy to create math that sustains a stable platform.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So I&#8217;m, I&#8217;m happy we&#8217;ve done 70 weekly rap writing contests in Berkeley, broaching some of the most serious topics, and we&#8217;re really close to expanding a second weekly rap writing contest in San Francisco if I can get a little help and not go so grey doing it. And then San Jose needs some help too, so I&#8217;m really fighting to make sure we have hip hop for the future.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[05:25] Building Local Cyphers<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I, I had my first show at Glen Park Rec Center, you know what I&#8217;m saying? At like a skateboard, kind of hip hop kind of community event. But they don&#8217;t do that anymore. I feel like it doesn&#8217;t even really have kids, you know, let alone brown kids like me. So I have to be that, that leader that creates those spaces, and we&#8217;ve gotta make the math work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And for me, that&#8217;s been standing in really affluent neighborhoods, looking for people that care like you, you know what I&#8217;m saying? That can share resources, or platforms for social capital, so we can get more resources &#8217;cause really, we just need places to shine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And that&#8217;s what I do. I&#8217;m trying to make sure we have artists, the next generation people who can get to the open mic for the first time and learn how to hold a microphone, you know what I&#8217;m saying?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And see these older folks show what it means to be a, a MC. You know, I&#8217;m trying to have a place where live graffiti artists can come and do live painting inside the cipher and break dancers can come and battle. You know what I&#8217;m saying? We need that. And if we don&#8217;t have our griots and our, and our culture bearers, we have nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BETH BARANY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Yeah, I, I love that you&#8217;re creating this in, in person, in local spaces and, I, I just love that so much. I feel like as humans, we&#8217;re actually genetically predisposed to learn together, learn in groups, learn through song, learn through modeling our elders. So I really, really love that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I noticed in your mission statement recently that you&#8217;re really focused in on health and wellness also.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can you say a a bit about that?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[06:50] Public Health Pivot<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>KHAFRE JAY: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Often we talk about the future, we talk about hope, but my public health focus comes from a lack of hope. Just to be quite honest with you. I was a hopeful Activist. I did the largest environmental justice Eco summits at the Presidio Lawn with the Presidio Activators Council. You know, I used to do a lot of environmental work, political work too. I was, was really rooting for white folks. I, I was really rooting for him in the last election, so disappointed, at the Dobbs decision, not just at the Dobbs decision, but at the tepid response to the Dobbs decision. You know what I&#8217;m saying?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I, I think I, it was a week before I started hip hop for the future. I saw that that protest at the Supreme Court and it wasn&#8217;t enough. It was, it was really disheartening to see that few people, and that few white women, you know, I, I was like, oh, no Dobbs, oh, white women who have the strongest political power are gonna go crazy and we&#8217;re gonna get some real change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And that, you know what I&#8217;m saying? And that moment, I just realized that it&#8217;s gonna take a little while before I feel like organizing with other groups directly, you know, our, our are building strategies that rely on a mass of American voters to have the best interests of black people at heart. I, you know, so out of that I decided to turn to N Word as a lot of black organizers have. And you know, that doesn&#8217;t mean that I&#8217;m not gonna talk to white folks. Of course not. You know, &#8217;cause I think that means I&#8217;m just gonna go towards individual grassroots means instead of organizing with big orgs that have strategies that are rooted in collective empathy. I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;re there yet so I decided to go to public health, you know, and Hunter&#8217;s Point Black people are going through it. We got higher rates of cancer, not to mention the stress traumas. The lack of access to care. hip hop for me has always been the strongest organizing tool for my people. You know what I&#8217;m saying?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like, Black people might not want to go talk about colorectal cancer interviews, but if I get the rapper, yo-yo from the nineties, you know, who&#8217;s big for people who are in that age group that need to get colon cancer tests right now? And I throw a phat hip hop show, at the film, at the African American Arts and Culture Complex with break dancers from Pier 39 DJs, graffiti artists doing live graffiti of food, barbers, braiders, people doing hair, clothes. With the Director of Freedom Ford, Francesca Gonzalez, who helped me create this idea of Drip fest dropping resources in place, then we can get a whole bunch of black folks there comfortable, calm, you know, appreciative. And then they are confronted with access to healthcare. You know, we had, Dr. Hobb, he&#8217;s a dentist with flossing for smiles, right? Flossing is kind of looking good, as you know.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He was there taking care of people who hadn&#8217;t talked to dentists recently. You know, Umoja Health with Dr. Rhodes. She was there, you know, helping people get vaccinations, COVID checks, and colorectal cancer interviews, things like that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This stuff is not hard when we&#8217;re doing it in the framework of people that have the cultural practices, and, you know, and, and the root of their strategy. So I, I just thought that would be really cool and, building around that, pretty soon I was doing, you know, hip hop therapy 101 for therapists. I want to integrate these methods authentically. you know, and, and hip hop in general, having spaces rooted in affirmation, like a cipher. And I know a lot of people they see hip hop in a frame of, of corporate media where in three companies own 90% of the means. But that&#8217;s not what it looks like in community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You know what I&#8217;m saying? When somebody&#8217;s rapping for the first time around all these vets and these vets are like, yeah, go. You gotta keep going. Don&#8217;t worry. Just keep going, keep going. It&#8217;s such a supportive place. And that right there is one of the most healing places. Most affirming places, and that ecosystem that we&#8217;re building of these artists coming together and these community members, it&#8217;s, it&#8217;s something that we don&#8217;t really have so I think that&#8217;s essential. Public health is a cultural community zone. The middle, you know what I&#8217;m saying? The center of the community. I&#8217;m trying to build that around hip hop, and it&#8217;s just public health is the way to go. It&#8217;s the only thing that I have hoped for. It&#8217;s my ability to bring health directly to people because I, I don&#8217;t really have faith in everything else right now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I&#8217;ll check back, I&#8217;ll check back in the midterms if we still have a country, so, yeah.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BETH BARANY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I hear you. I hear you. The power of the young hip hop artists going up and holding the mic for the first time. The power of just coming together. I really see this is so beautiful, what you&#8217;re doing, and can you tell us a little bit more about, you know, what that&#8217;s like for you to create these events and I don&#8217;t know anything that you&#8217;re working on.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[10:58] Pregnancy Village Work\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>KHAFRE JAY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0 You know, I think the best way to talk about, I think the best way to talk about the power of live performance is that&#8217;s best viewed through the work I&#8217;ve been doing with the San Francisco Pregnancy Village. Away from my mother&#8217;s house, Bayview, YMCA which is in Hunter&#8217;s Point, not Bayview. They&#8217;re not the same. I hate how people put &#8217;em together. It sounds like gentrification to me. But yeah, you know, I was doing Drip Fest, and I got to connect with the people working on the SF Pregnancy Village.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For listeners who don&#8217;t know how bad the situation is for black people here in the United States. You know, all this stuff we&#8217;re talking about currently with ice, like we&#8217;ve been dealing with this type of authoritarianism, this type of lack of access to, body autonomy, rights, and whatnot for so long. And black women die four, three to four times more giving birth in Bay Area hospitals and in the United States, just because of sheer apathy. When black women are dealing with things like preeclampsia and they say, I&#8217;m feeling pain, they&#8217;re looked at as drug seeking more often instead of, hey, this lady might have some horrible thing going on, or, or they&#8217;re told to wait. They&#8217;re told to sit down and be patient and they&#8217;re forgotten about. That is the sheer you know, root of that is that that callousness, that apathy, that black women&#8217;s suffering gets historically in this country. And there&#8217;s lots of orgs that want to help. There\u2019s lots of them. You know, but I want to help women. I really do you know, when I taught hip hop ed, I created this women&#8217;s empowerment workshop, but I didn&#8217;t want to ever teach that, and I didn&#8217;t want to just create it and be like, here, teach this &#8217;cause it has to, you know, good intentions, you know, feel me?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But I think a lot of these organizations that want to help, there\u2019s not a lot of people like me in the decision making rooms, you know what I&#8217;m saying? So, when we get these interventions out, they&#8217;re not always the most successful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That&#8217;s why DPH here walked up to me. They&#8217;re like, yo, do you teach about hip hop therapy? Because they have the resources, they have the degrees, they have the, all that stuff. But what they don&#8217;t have is the trust and that&#8217;s historic. And so they needed help from somebody like me, you know what I&#8217;m saying? The pregnancy village, Melanie she, is a nurse. She works, delivering babies, and she helps us to set up this stuff. She said she saw my website. She was like, yeah, this is what we need.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You know? I don&#8217;t deliver no babies, you know what I&#8217;m saying? I don&#8217;t do prenatal care. I don&#8217;t do lactation coaching. All right. I don&#8217;t do anything like that, but what I do do is make black people very comfortable and I create spaces that are healing in and of themselves. And that kind of culture can be a catalyst to organize marginalized people around any services. It doesn&#8217;t matter, you know, whether it&#8217;s math, whether it&#8217;s working with Parks Cal and getting kids rapping about the toxic Superfund site next to Hunter&#8217;s Point where I grew up, which is why people are glowing over there, you know? But yeah, it is just been really cool to go there. And bring DJs and bring, you know, live graffiti artists like Laser one MCA or Buku one. And they&#8217;re setting up big graffiti murals that say love on it. And little babies are painting and stuff like that. We&#8217;re like, come on, kids start graffiti. And then DJ Lex, who&#8217;s like this world class dj, historic in the Bay Area, he&#8217;s bringing his turntables, letting kids scratch and things like that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And then we booked three or four artists to rap and perform and they make the village cry. And sometimes the, you know, the, the village makes them cry too. I think a lot of times people don&#8217;t know that rappers don&#8217;t just wanna rap at seedy dive bars, you know what I&#8217;m saying? Our words are not confined to settings that people are used to. And I think for me, a lot of my work was been given op opportunities to artists to get in environments that they&#8217;re not used to, where they can see the power of the words and then you get the feedback from these women. These people who are just like going through, you know, some of the most serious, you know, moments of energy, time, emotion, and then seeing &#8217;em dancing, you know what I&#8217;m saying?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And, and seeing &#8217;em, hear people rapping about pregnancy and, and beauty. I think it&#8217;s one of the reasons why the village grows. It&#8217;s one of the reasons why people come back happy. and yeah, I, I can add that to anything. So anybody need hip hop out there? You need a DJ for a birthday party. You want somebody to graffiti your infant&#8217;s room with math symbols or something like that? My job is just getting hip hop artists paid &#8217;cause as long as we pay our storytellers, then our future will be bright. If we do not pay our storytellers, then we&#8217;re gonna need supplemental, mostly white LED NGOs, you know, nonprofits with their galas and their charcuterie boards. With whatever help they can have for black people that, you know, may or may not be impactful, you know what I&#8217;m saying?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They&#8217;re gonna hire some of us. I&#8217;ve gone to a few of those galas. It&#8217;s really cool. You know what I&#8217;m saying? They got great wine and cheeses but I, I don&#8217;t, you know, I, I love what Planned Parenthood does. I think that there&#8217;s so many black women that are rapping about those things that would create so much more impact on outcomes and health, if they got a quarter of the marketing budget that Planned Parenthood had. It&#8217;s just me. I think hip hop does that. So<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BETH BARANY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Yeah. Awesome. Awesome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[15:36] Writing Future Question\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, I, I&#8217;m sure we could keep going, but I&#8217;m gonna wrap it up here. I have a surprise question, which is not so surprise. Yeah. So, what, when you hear how to write the future, what do you think of, what does that make you think of?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>KHAFRE JAY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I think that makes me think first off is trying to like break off my chains, you know what I&#8217;m saying? I think trying to, trying to stop my impediments, you know, my preconceived notions to let myself flow, just flow. I think in order to think of the future, it&#8217;s really hard. We have so much baggage and bias that allows us to even think of the possibilities where technology might go, for example, you know what I&#8217;m saying? You look at Star Trek, you know, the next generation now, and you&#8217;re like, wow, we didn&#8217;t even think that we might have stuff floating in midair walking with this holograms. Yeah, I don&#8217;t know. I don&#8217;t know how to be the Jules Vern of your time, you know what I&#8217;m saying? But yeah, I was just really focused on trying to be open, just clearheaded yeah.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BETH BARANY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I love it. I love it so much.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[16:29] Where To Support<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So how can people find out about you? Where do they go? What&#8217;s the first stop? They can just get all your awesome stuff, support you, bring you into their organization. Yeah. Where do they go?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>KHAFRE JAY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I am not as important as my community and so if I could ever ask for any support for anything, it would be for my life&#8217;s work right now, which is hip hop for the future.org. We are really, really looking for long-term monthly support right now. We have about 350 ish monthly supporters that have allowed us to rock in Berkeley for 70 weeks, providing this beautiful platform.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We started people&#8217;s careers. We built an ecosystem, hopefully soon to build an economy around it. But we&#8217;re really close to getting enough monthly support to open up Flow Lounge San Francisco &#8217;cause San Francisco used to be a historic place for rap, and that&#8217;s gone. Almost completely. And so we really need that support.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After that, we&#8217;ll be doing the same in San Jose &#8217;cause tech has strangled people down there and all kids have, if they have hip hop, it&#8217;s that corporate, gangster, misogynistic, violent place that breeds unsafe conditions. We need your help for that down there. If you need DJs for a birthday party, break dances.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want team building, let me know if you want somebody to graffiti your business, atrium, with company mission stuff, galas, let me know. Hip hop should be in every strategy meeting. If it&#8217;s not, and you&#8217;re working with people, even if you think it&#8217;s not hood people, if you think, all those white CEOs, they love rapping too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don&#8217;t get it twisted. Yeah. I just, I just want people to go hip hop for the future.org. You can always find me Khafre Jay just type my name anywhere. I\u2019m on everything. Check out my blog on LinkedIn 22,000 person following Unapologetic Black Newsletter. Listen to me on KPO o San Francisco 89 5 every Sunday playing three hour block of local barrier hip hop. Yeah, go to Critical Race Threads and dress like your mostly friendly neighborhood black activists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BETH BARANY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Oh, I love it. I love it. I could listen to you forever. All right. This is so awesome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[18:18] Final Thanks Outro\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thank you so much for being a guest on How To Write the Future. I&#8217;m gonna wrap it up. That&#8217;s it for this week, everyone. Write long and prosper. Woo. That&#8217;s a wrap.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>KHAFRE JAY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> That\u2019s a wrap. Right.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here:\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2012061\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2012061<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>Need instructions on how to leave a review?<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/leave-a-podcast-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">***<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Support our work for creatives: leave a tip: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">***<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ABOUT BETH BARANY\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/BETH-BARANY_2023_300px_01-e1701116328224.webp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-27766 size-full\" title=\"Beth Barany\" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/BETH-BARANY_2023_300px_01-e1701116328224.webp\" alt=\"Beth Barany\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beth Barany teaches science fiction and fantasy novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor. She\u2019s an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist and runs the podcast, \u201cHow To Write The Future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/author.bethbarany.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Author site<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \/\u00a0 <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/bethbarany.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coaching site<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \/ <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/baranyschooloffiction.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">School of Fiction<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \/ <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.writersfunzone.com\/blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writer\u2019s Fun Zone blog<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CONNECT<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contact Beth: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/podcast\/#tve-jump-185b4422580\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/podcast\/#tve-jump-185b4422580<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email: beth@bethbarany.com<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bethbarany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bethbarany\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IG: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bethbarany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bethbarany\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TT: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@bethbarany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@bethbarany\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FB: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bethbarany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bethbarany<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">X: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BethBarany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/BethBarany<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CREDITS\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EDITED WITH DESCRIPT:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> https:\/\/www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Refer-a-Friend link)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MUSIC CREDITS : Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/uppbeat.io\/t\/soundroll\/fuzz-buzz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> https:\/\/uppbeat.io\/t\/soundroll\/fuzz-buzz<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> License code: UMMKDRL02DFGKJ0L. \u201cFuzz buzz\u201d by Soundroll. Commercial license:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/musicvine.com\/track\/soundroll\/fuzz-buzz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> https:\/\/musicvine.com\/track\/soundroll\/fuzz-buzz<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/?referrer_id=1994465\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/?referrer_id=1994465<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Refer-a-Friend link)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth Barany<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">c 2025 BETH BARANY<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bethbarany.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/bethbarany.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For more \u201cHow To Write the Future\u201d episodes, go <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/podcast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/contact-beth\/#contactbeth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2705 Like the work we do? Tip us! <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hip Hop for the Future &#8211; How To Write the Future podcast, episode 203 *** \u201cI&#8217;m trying to make sure we have artists, the next generation people who can get to the open mic&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":30475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":"","tve_custom_css":"","tve_user_custom_css":"","tve_globals":{},"tcb2_ready":0,"tcb_editor_enabled":0,"tve_landing_page":"","_tve_header":"","_tve_footer":""},"categories":[5099],"tags":[140,752,7786,5540,4607,5160,7790,7785,7693,7787,1936,7789,3237,7788,2872,5163,5183,5162,5164,1490,5165],"class_list":["post-30474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to-write-the-future-podcast","tag-beth-barany","tag-community","tag-creative-spaces","tag-culture","tag-fiction-writing-tips","tag-futuristics","tag-health-initiative","tag-hip-hop","tag-khafre-jay","tag-live-performance","tag-music","tag-partnerships","tag-resources","tag-san-francisco-pregnancy-village","tag-story-telling","tag-story-world-building","tag-strategic-foresight","tag-tips-for-fiction-writers","tag-write-the-future","tag-writing-coaching","tag-writing-teaching"],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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