MARTHA DIAZ

Gallatin School of Individualized Study

Master of Arts, May 2010

Specialization: Hip-Hop as a Tool for Media, Education, and Social Change

Bio and Resume (.pdf)

Martha Diaz is a mother, filmmaker, community organizer, curator, and the founder and president of the Hip-Hop Association (H2A). For the last 15 years, she has dedicated herself to elevating and innovating local communities through the power of hip-hop culture. Her impact can be traced to her early days as an apprentice for the late Ted Demme, the producer and director of the influential television show, Yo! MTV Raps. Through her own production company, Akasha Entertainment, Martha implemented socially conscious projects and worked with a diverse list of clients such as: Hakuhodo Agency, African Heritage Network, Americans for the Arts, UNESCO, International Music Council, and Third World Newsreel.

Martha used her knowledge and experience in Hip-Hop culture, media, and education to form the Hip-Hop Association (H2A), whose mission is to facilitate critical thinking, foster constructive social change, reform, and economic sustainability across communities. Starting with the establishment of the Hip-Hop Odyssey (H2O) film festival, Martha gathered a group of filmmakers, music industry executives, activists, and educators to help launch what became the largest festival of its kind. She later developed the Hip-Hop Education (H2Ed) initiative and other projects with the same strategy of mobilizing and uniting various sectors of the hip-hop community.

Now in its fifth year, H2A is the recipient of the prestigious Union Square Arts Award and is considered one of the leading international Hip-Hop institutions. H2A educates and empowers communities through the use of media, technology, resources, and leadership development. In 2007, H2A published The Hip-Hop Education Guidebook Volume I, edited by Martha Diaz and Marcella Runell Hall. The first book of its kind, it offers an array of innovative, interdisciplinary standards-referenced lessons written by and for teachers.

Martha has served as a curator, speaker, moderator, and workshop leader at numerous arts and educational institutions, conferences, and social forums across the US and abroad, including Hip-Hop and Social Change Conference, U.N. Week, the Family and Community Violence Prevention National Conference, World Youth Forum, National Association for Latino Independent Producers Conference, The Rose and Erwin S. Wolfson Center for National Affairs Speaker’s Series, and The Hypnotik Festival.

Martha is currently working on her second book titled, Fresh, Bold and So Def: Women in Hip-Hop Changing the Game. She sits on the Middle School Task Force for the New York City Council, and the advisory boards for Stop The Violence Movement, Hip-Hop Theater Initiative at NYU and the Katrina Information Network.