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From Public Enemy to Tupac to Chuck D to Kendrick Lamar, hip hop has long been a tool to tell the story of a neighborhood, a crew, and/or a movement. The intersection of hip hop and activism is incredibly powerful. In recent years, hip hop artists have taken their lyrics and movements in front of audiences at the United Nations in Geneva, the Transatlantic Roundtable in London, and even to the White House, to talk about human rights, or lack thereof.

Amnesty International USA will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Miami from April 1-3 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Miami Airport & Convention Center. AIUSA is expecting over a thousand human rights activists from around the country to come together to engage in networking opportunities, actions, inspiring plenaries, outstanding keynotes, and hands-on workshops as well as to shape the policies of the organization.

The theme of this year’s AGM is “Change Our World.” The Annual General Meeting gives AIUSA members, supporters, allies and the public the opportunity to come together to take action, participate in workshops and hear from experts, policymakers, celebrities and activists on pressing human rights issues.

In an effort to in fact, “Change our World” Amnesty is looking forward to candid and challenging conversations on the role of art activism in human rights movements around the world, how we respond to terrorism in the face of fear, solutions to gun violence in the U.S. and abroad, and how we address racial justice through hip hop and art activism.

Highlights of this years meeting include:

-Hip Hop Activism-Changing the World, One Beat At a Time

-Afro-Descendent Communities Human Rights Struggles throughout the Americas

-Art for Amnesty Plenary

In the past year AIUSA has issued a damning report finding that all 50 states in the U.S. fail to meet international standards regarding the use of lethal force by police. Observers have been on the ground in Baltimore in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, and have worked with a coalition of groups to secure reparations for those tortured while in the custody of the Chicago Police Department. Abroad, AIUSA has called for the protection of civilians terrorized by the armed group Boko Harem in Nigeria and urged for the release of imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi in Saudi Arabia.

Updates to the conference schedule, including event descriptions, notable guests and media opportunities, will be posted regularly to http://www.amnestyusa.org/AGM2016.

Hip-Hop & Human Rights: Amnesty International’s Annual Meeting  was originally published on boom92houston.com