Long-time residents of Oakland say there's been nothing like last week's youth protest in front of City Hall since the Black Panther protests. The event marked the beginning of a "Week of Rage" aimed at defeating a March 7 California ballot initiative on juvenile crime. PNS correspondent Lakiesha McGhee has been covering the protests for San Francisco State University's online publication, www.newsport.sfsu.edu

OAKLAND, CA -- They are of every race and ethnic background. They have a "f--- the police" attitude cleverly expressed by a street lingo that rhythmically soothes and heightens emotions. With heads bobbing and fists pumping to hip-hop sounds, they declare revolution as the only solution to the age-old problems of inequality and injustice.

A week ago more than a thousand young people gathered in front of Oakland City Hall for a "No Prop 21 Hip-Hop Concert," underscoring opposition to Gov. Pete Wilson's Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act (Proposition 21) on the California ballot March 7. If passed, the bill will allow prosecutors to decide if youth aged 14 and older should be tried as adults and sent to adult jails and prisons. It will also expand the definition of a gang member and mandate stricter punishment for those fitting the description.

Long-time residents of this city say they haven't seen that type of action since the Black Panthers organized in the 1960s. The concert was a kick-off to what some 35 different youth organizations across California are calling a "Week of Rage." By week's end, "The Final Showdown," the youth had turned their "Schools, Not Jails" slogan into a reality by taking over a dilapidated continuation school in the Mission district of San Francisco and declaring it as their own "Freedom School."

From dusk until dawn, Freedom School students were entertained by local poets and rappers who vocalized a political and social consciousness.

"This is the rawest form of hip-hop," says Justin Niagaya, a student from McIntyre High School. "You have people talking politics. You have people up there doin' live shows, and they're not even on any (record) label or anything...and they got skills! And you have a whole bunch of different faces from all over the place. This is the underground hip-hop. There's the hip-hop that makes money and there's the hip-hop that's...about the people."

Matt Ross, spokesman for Prop 21, insists that it will make the streets safer for people because "...criminals will not be out on the streets looking for another victim." He says more needs to be done to improve juvenile justice and reduce gang violence.

Jasmin Smith, coordinator of Third Eye Movement, a youth organization based in San Francisco at the forefront of the fight against Prop. 21, counters that its loose definition of gangs will target youth, people of color and those who listen to hip-hop music. "Hip-hop is not just music, it's how you talk and it's what you wear," she explains.

Baggy jeans and puff coats, bright-laced Nike shoes and cornrow braids are what millions of teens across America are wearing. If Prop 21 passes, three or more people dressed in the same gear could be labeled gang members by police officials and forced to register with police like sex offenders.

"Hip-hop culture has always been a political culture that gives voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless," says Rickey Vincent, a professor at San Francisco State University who crafted the first university course on black protest music.

"Every political movement has some sort of cultural or artistic aspects associated with it. The Civil Rights Movement had a lot of music that came out of the church and out of soul music. To me it's empowering that a generation recognizes the role of music because music is a way of learning the state of a people," he says.

For now, young people are educating each other and the public about the importance of this fairly new music form. "Hip-hop is the movement," says Pecolia Manigo, a 16-year-old member of Third Eye Movement and coordinator of a hip-hop club at Sala Burton High School in San Francisco. "It's how we do our outreach, raise funds and educate people about the politics of Prop 21."

Hip-hop commentator and Bay Area DJ Davey D says the music is actually helping to end juvenile crime. "Hip-hop has been one of the main contributing factors that helped curtail gang violence due to the fact that many adults found it preferable to channel their anger and aggressions into these art forms," he says.