By David Benoit

Special to the Reporter

Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston received a new nickname on stage at the Strand Theatre last week, and now represents the people of Boston as the Honorable "T-Mizzy."

Menino received the new handle at the opening of the "Hip-Hop Reconstruction Conference," part of the city's hip-hop week. The day-long conference promoted the use of music and lyrics for positive change, peace, and education in an effort to change the perception that rap music glorifies crime.

"I'd be the first one to admit to all of you, I'm not a hip-hop expert," Menino said, joking that he was about to start free-styling. "But I do recognize that hip-hop is a powerful part of youth culture today, not just in Boston, not just in our country, but all over our world."

Menino addressed a few hundred area youths at the Strand Theatre before they set off for a variety of workshops on hip-hop information and the media. The event was an offshoot of the mayor's new Hip-Hop Roundtable, a variety of organizations that are looking to tap into the influence of hip-hop and use it to promote peaceful and non-violent messages.

"My goal is that youth can be a part of the solution to youth violence. Because all you young people you are on the front line, you have the power to help us stop the violence through your leadership," Menino said. "You young people know better than I do how we are dealing with these issues. So we need you to let us know how we are doing."

Because of the popularity and universality of hip-hop, the mayor and his staff have turned it into a tool.

"The mania regarding hip-hop is it's universal power regarding language &endash; be it colors, be it singing, be it words &endash; it's all language and its all power," Larry Mayes, the Chief of Human Services of Boston, said to the crowd. "So if hip hop is the language of today, then you posses the power to change what is going on today."

Lisa Fager heads Industry Ears, a non-profit that wants to shed light on the workings of the music industry and the media.

"There is a serious gap between the industry and the consumer," Fager told The Reporter before heading off to teach one of the conference's workshops, Revealing Truth in Media. "This is about how a record becomes a hit, there is so much deception there. They pay youths to call up radio stations and request the song. They get you to buy into their marketing machine."

Fager's organization is made up of people who used to work in the music industry and were discouraged by the way young people and other consumers were treated. They've decided to make people more aware of the tactics being used by the industry, and to arm consumers to fight against them.

"You have the power to do something as activists, we want you to know your congressman," she explained. "It's a civic lesson in some ways too, you can walk into a radio station and ask for their public records. They don't want you too see them, but if you ask they have to let you."

The mayor's message drew straight from Fager's ideas, decrying the typical gangster rap that populates the airwaves, for a different kind of hip-hop.

"Mostly young people are only exposed to the commercial side of hip-hop culture, which often includes references to violence, sex, and lyrics that degrade women. But I know in talking to my staff, and from groups I have worked with, there are lots of hip-hop groups out there, artists who are socially conscience who bring positive influences," he said. "I want to bring those alternative messages to the forefront. Using hip-hop as a platform we hope to create a dialogue about violence protection and peace building."