Hip hop has entered the housing crisis.
In a press conference held today in New York, members of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), including hip-hop pioneer and network cofounder Russell Simmons, announced a joint initiative called "Get Your House Right!" to provide solutions to the mortgage and foreclosure crisis for young Americans. Russell announced the initiative with HSAN Cofounder, President and CEO Dr. Benjamin Chavis and Valeisha Butterfield, HSAN executive director.
"Get Your House Right!" is a homeownership tour that kicks off in New York City and is supported by corporate sponsor Genworth Financial. It works with professionals from the financial, mortgage and homeownership arena to educate Blacks and Latinos on the long-term benefits of homeownership in America.
"This stuff is not being taught in schools," says Simmons.
Blacks have lost more than $92 billion because of foreclosures, and traditionally underrepresented groups are projected to lose more than $200 billion overall. HSAN understands the seriousness of this crisis and is using hip hop as a way to educate the younger generation.
"Russell's at the cutting edge of using our hip-hop culture to implement social change," says Chavis.
"Homeownership cultivates and upholds the viability of urban communities and provides a legacy of wealth creation that can be passed on from one generation to the next," says Lori Jones Gibbs, vice president of affordable housing and industry affairs at Genworth Mortgage Insurance.
The tour will make stops in Houston; Chicago; Charlotte, N.C.; Cleveland; Baltimore; Richmond, Va.; St. Louis; and Atlanta. However, HSAN notes that "Get Your House Right!" is a national effort and is not just focused on the tour cities.
Simmons says the initiative's main objective is to answer the question "How do we build a better relationship with the financial world so that we can achieve our goals and live out the American dream?"
