In looking for ways to engage the youth of San Antonio on topics such as education, sex and race relations, Joaquinn Arch wanted to give youths a reason to listen.

Enter hip-hop.

Arch, council aide for San Antonio city councilwoman Sheila McNeil, helped organize Hip-Hop Summit 2008, an event designed to blend hip-hop with real-world issues such as drugs, education and sexually transmitted diseases. The event, which is free and open to the public, is slated for Saturday, Jan. 19, at St. Philip's College's Watson Fine Arts Center.

“Today's society basically revolves around hip-hop,” Arch said.

Before the summit, a two-hour series of workshops will take place, focusing on topics such as beauty image among young women, hip-hop in cinema and a workshop exclusive to parents.

As for the summit itself, it will feature a documentary centered on the “Jena Six,” a group of African American teenagers in Jena, La., who were charged with assaulting a white student in December 2006. The incident sparked a firestorm of controversy, particularly from those who said the African American teenagers were treated unfairly when compared with white students in Jena who had committed similar offenses in the past.

Other topics to be addressed at Hip-Hop Summit 2008 are racial profiling, police brutality and drugs. Later in the evening, a concert featuring hip-hop acts Bun B, Rob G and Play N Skillz will take place. According to a news release from St. Philips, attendees will be required to register to vote or must be accompanied by a parent if they are not of legal voting age.

Discussing race relations “is something that's very important, but I don't know if it's being done at the school level or even at home,” Arch said. “I think it's just one of those topics like sex, where we just don't talk about it, and if we do, we sugarcoat it. That's one of the things we're trying not to do. We want to meet the situation head-on.”

CLINT HALE | 210SA