The National Hip-Hop Political Convention will convene at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey in June.The convention, which will be held from June 16-18, aims to address issues facing the hip-hop generation and explore the agendas of the major political parties.”The aim of the meeting is to bring together a diverse group of local grassroots groups and create a national political forum for the hip-hop generation,” said Bakari Kitawa, one of the convention co-founders. “Men, women, activists, artists, educators, workers, and professionals.”The 3-day event includes a political dialogue between the Hip-Hop generation and the civil rights generation, discussions on economic empowerment, healthcare, education, as well as performances by The Coup, Public Enemy and others.”Issues such as mass imprisonment, drug trafficking, police violence, failing educational systems, unemployment and economic decay are the problems that are critical to us,” participant Davey D added. “They’re issues critical to this generation and we must make ourselves heard.”Russell Simmons, M1 of Dead Prez, Rosa Clemente, Ras Baraka and others will also participate.