Russell Simmons Takes Editor-In-Chief Position at Global Grind

Global Grind Becomes “Huffington Post of Hip-Hop”

Russell Simmons just announced he is assuming a new role as Editor-In-Chief of the “Huffington Post of Hip-Hip,” Global Grind. Global Grind is a social media platform developed by and for the Hip Hop community. An early investor and a celebrity blogger on the site along with his brother Rev Run and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Simmons got such a strong response to the blogs that Global Grind just launched the site’s new “Celebrity Blogger” section.

Keep an eye out for a mix of celebrities and influencers within the Hip-Hop Community as they begin blogging for Global Grind, which has created sites for everyone from President Obama to Paris Hilton, on a variety of topics including music, lifestyle, culture, politics and sports.

Early celebs to sign on include:
Akon
Angela Simmons
Benny Boom
Bow Wow
Brandi Garcia
Brett Ratner
Damon Dash
DJ Cassidy
DJ D-Nice
DJ Khaled
DJ Whoo Kid
Free
Ed Lover
World Famous G-Mack
Gorilla Zoe
Jim Jones
John Legend
JoJo Simmons
Justine Simmons
Kevin Liles
LL Cool J
Militainment Crazy Raw Radio
Little X
Nas
Nelly
Ne-Yo
Nia Long
Rev Run
Sanaa Lathan
Toccara
T-Pain
Trey The Choklit Jok
Big Boy
Noemie Lenoir
LeToya Luckett
Mickey Factz
Vanessa Simmons

What follows is Simmons’ blog on his new position at Global Grind:

The opportunity to be Editor-In-Chief of Global Grind is an exciting and remarkable responsibility that I readily accept. This is another chance for me further to serve the interests of the hip-hop community.

As hip-hop has evolved into a true global, multidimensional, cultural phenomena, Global Grind presents a unique transcendent online platform for all the eloquent, diverse leaders of the culture to be read, heard, seen and felt.

I love hip-hop in all its dimensions. Whether it is gangster rap or conscious rap or gospel rap, it all has an important expressive
purpose. I love the images, the style, the fashion, the drama, the hustle and the social and political ramifications that the culture
exudes. I love it all.

But mostly I love how hip-hop has helped change the quality of life of people and continues to change the world.

As this profound moment of change that is taking place in the political, economic, social, and cultural consciousness of billions of people throughout the world, the global hip-hop community is helping to reshape and transform the worldwide landscape of public dialogue and debate concerning the critical issues and challenges of the 21st Century.

From the earliest stages of the evolution of the culture to today, hip-hop has always called for transformation and social change.

What hip-hop has done for race relations is unprecedented from Run DMC being the first rap group on MTV to the Run’s House becoming the first family of MTV. I witnessed firsthand how hip-hop forced NY state to change the repressive Rockefeller Drug Laws. I watched them force NY City to put hundreds of millions of dollars back into the public education budget. Then I saw them pick the US President when no one else believed it was even possible.

So connecting their voices and expressions is going to be good for their communities. Too many media companies don’t get the big picture associated today with hip- hop. I want to be one that does and transmit that big picture all over the world. Global Grind will open the door wider and smarter.

President Barack H. Obama in his Inaugural Address affirmed, ‘We are in a new era of responsibility.’ And as we take back the responsibility to fight poverty, ignorance and intolerance, we can and will make a difference.

Russell Simmons Weighs in: Obama’s Post-Election Good Far Outweighs The Bad Remnants Of The Past

http://globalgrind.com/source/thedailygrind.globalgrind.com/213723/russells-blog

It has only been two weeks since the tremendous goodwill and massive celebrations across the nation that resulted from the election of Barack Obama to be the 44th President of the United States. When positive change happens, there are always forces of negative reaction.

Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that “Obama has received more threats than any other president-elect.” In addition the AP stated, “Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Obama are dampening the post-election glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.”

But let’s not rush to conclusions that somehow the progress that Obama’s election verified did not also signal good steps forward toward healing America’s historic racial divide. The fact is the majority of Americans, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native and others all voted for Obama to be the President and did not allow racial prejudice or hate to be a decisive factor.

The Inauguration on January 20, 2009 will usher in the Obama Administration as millions of people in the US and throughout the world continue to celebrate this change and transformation with joy and great hope.

Don’t let anyone or anything steal your joy and hope. Carrying the weight of the past only hurts you. The world is either a beautiful sweet place full of opportunity and hope where everyone can dream and fly or it’s a place only full of strife and pain that keeps shackles on your feet and mind.

Beware of the cynics who prefer to cast the negative stones of the past. We are not yet a perfect nation or society, but I know that we are getting better everyday. We should not let all the weight of making America a better place fall only on Obama’s shoulders. The new President will need our involvement, our giving, and our prayers.

Yes, there are still racial problems in the US, but sometimes we respond to racial incidents in a manner that does nothing more than cause more polarization rather than work to eliminate racism in all of its manifestations. The growing number of incidents being reported is an indication of stubborn “aberrations of intolerance” and do not at all represent the mindset of most Americans.

The positive and uplifting spirit of the African American community and all others of goodwill will not be broken by the these latest random acts of madness.

Obama’s victory was a victory for all people and for all Americans. The pendulum of history now has swung too far toward equality and inclusiveness for any of us to permit group or individual acts of racial hatred to entice the majority of the people to start stepping backwards rather than to keep marching forward.

The bad societal remnants of the past should be buried. Let’s work harder to plant the right seeds in the consciousness of all people and let’s give Obama our active support.

– Russell Simmons/ Global Grind

The “Countdown to Change” initiative is interactive for users, enabling them to “grind” or vote on the most popular stories, blogs, videos, photos or items read or seen about the election. Thus users can help to keep that story or item “On The Grind”. Users can also submit their own content to Global Grind, playing an important role in shaping the content into what is most important to them and the Hip-Hop community.

“This mission of Global Grind has always been to show not only the breadth and depth of our audience’s interests but also be a place where the power of this audience can be demonstrated when it get’s behind something”, says Navarrow Wright, CEO of Global Grind. ” It is imperative for Global Grind to offer the tools to educate and stimulate the urban community into action in this, one of the most important elections of our time. I hope that “Countdown to Change” helps to show that EVERY VOTE COUNTS!”

“We are about as non partisan as Fox News,” quipped Russell Simmons about the Global Grind audience. “We (most hip-hoppers) will vote for Republican or Democrat as long as they support all the ideas promoted by the far left wing of the Democratic Party and most of us will support all the legislation and sound ideas meant to promote world peace, protect the environment and, of course, uplift the poor. We reject all the fearful angry and especially greedy and selfish choices made by most Republican leaders. But, what I mean to say is, this is a non-partisan site.”

In an effort to help spread the word on the importance of this election, Global Grind has a “Countdown to Change” downloadable flyer, giving people the opportunity to pass along and post information on the ground. Global Grind also has created the “Countdown to Change” widget, which can be placed on a desktop or shared with friends, allowing for a continual link with the most current news and updates.

Video blogs and postings by some of the biggest names in Hip-Hop will regularly be featured, helping to inspire the Hip-Hop community to get involved and vote.

Http://www.globalgrind.com/countdowntochange

About Global Grind
Global Grind delivers “The World According to Hip-Hop” as the online epicenter for the hip-hop community. Global Grind provides the web’s most rich and dynamic integration of all content formats of interest to the hip-hop community and brings the web to users all on one page with unique features to discover new content and network in innovative ways. The company is headquartered in New York City and is privately held. For more information, please visit www.globalgrind.com.