Just got this from Akila Worksongs. Did you see it last night? It was on too late for me.

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Dear Supporters of Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes,

Thank you so much for helping to make the national broadcast of Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes such a monumental success last night. Words cannot express my deep gratitude to ALL who watched it on Independent Lens on PBS. The success of the film and its impact on audiences has met my greatest expectations and audacious goals. I know that I could not have accomplished any of these goals without great, brilliant, and talented people on my team. I am humbled by your faith in me and your commitment to my vision.

Let me take a moment to thank God for the courage it took to make this film. I prayed incessantly throughout this project, and God answered my prayers. I must acknowledge that.

I want to send a heartfelt thank you to EVERYONE who supported Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes over the past six years. It’s been a long journey, and I thank you all for coming along for the ride. Thank you to the contributors to the “Friend of a Friend $1 Email Campaign” back in 2000. Your financial support was vital to the launch of this production. Look out for a “Friend of a Friend Email Campaign Part II” in the coming days.

To everyone who granted me an interview for Beyond Beats and Rhymes, thank you so much for your honesty, your bravery, and your intelligence. My only regret is that I could not include everyone I interviewed in the film. To all of the people who made the final cut, thank you, thank you, thank you for being a part of this extraordinary documentary.

Congratulations to Sabrina Schmidt Gordon. You poured your heart and soul into editing this film, and did a masterful job. Your talent and brilliance is evident and shines through in this piece. You have earned the right to make your own film. Go for it, Sabrina!

To Stanley Nelson—you are the man. Thank you for being my executive producer. It is an honor to know you, and to have your ear as my advisor. Your patience, honesty, and commitment to me throughout this endeavor were priceless. To Bill Winters, my director of photography, you are great. Thanks for holding me down and capturing such incredible footage. To my small but powerful production crew, thank you for your dedication, and for helping me get the job done.

To Richard Lapchick, thank you for giving me an opportunity to use my status as an athlete to help create social change. To Jackson Katz, creator and founder of the Mentors in Violence Prevention Program, thank you for radically changing my world view. And to all of the men who are working to redefine masculinity, and are supporting women in the effort to end men’s violence against women, much respect. This is cutting edge, groundbreaking work. Thank you also to the women who have fought for years to be heard and respected, and for showing men the way.

To the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community, thank you for teaching me about the complex reality of your daily lives. To gays and lesbians of color who endure both racism and homophobia, continue to show the straight community of color how it all intersects.

To the brilliant folks at NBPC, ITVS, The Ford Foundation, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Firelight Media, Independent Lens, and AKILA WORKSONGS Public Relations, I sincerely appreciate your confidence in me, and your support. Thank you to Lisa Davis and the lawyers at Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz for vetting my film; to the Center for Social Media, thanks for all of your groundbreaking work around the issue of Fair Use, and for educating me; to Kevin MacRae at Lordly and Dame, thank you for believing in me; to The Media Education Foundation, thanks for your presence in the culture and for creating such powerful media; to Third World Newsreel, thanks for getting me back into the game; to the Black Documentary Collective, I appreciate your support and promise to be more active; to Kounterattack Design, thank you for creativity; to Final Frame Post Production, thanks for the color correction; and thank you, RP Video, for making my dubs.

Also, a special thank you to all of the film festivals, colleges, universities, grassroots, community-based organizations, and high schools across the country that facilitated or sponsored a screening of Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes. Another special thank you to all the journalists and media outlets (print, radio, television, and Internet) that covered the project and wrote smart reviews. It is quite an achievement for a documentary film with a social and political message to get both grassroots and mainstream coverage.

And thanks to all of the people who blogged, forwarded, emailed, or created a buzz through word-of-mouth. We created our own machine! Thanks to all the individuals and friends who sent good vibes for the film’s success.

And finally, a very BIG THANK YOU to my beautiful wife, Kenya, and my family: members of the Hurt-Waller, Hogan and Crumel families… thank you for all of your love and support.

This film project has been a blessing to me and has helped me grow immeasurably – both personally and professionally. I didn’t go through this project, I grew through this project. I have learned ample lessons to apply to my next film.

There are so many people connected to this project, I am certain to have forgotten to mention someone. If I have mistakenly overlooked any person or organization, please forgive me. Just know that if you have contributed to this project in any way, I very much appreciate you.

Lastly, I will make some exciting announcements in the next few days. Please stay tuned to this email address for more information. In the meantime, here’s to realizing a more healthy vision of manhood in the world.

Sincerely,

B. Hurt
Producer/Director, Beyond Beats and Rhymes
God Bless the Child Productions, Inc.

bhurt@optonline.net