Solidarity

Television (Full Length) – 1992

Solidarity follows pioneering New Zealand rappers Upper Hutt Posse after they're invited to the United States by the Nation of Islam. They perform signature song 'E Tū' — about Māori resistance against oppression — and take their message of justice to Detroit community station WDTR. In New York, UHP are interviewed by veteran DJ Imhotep Gary Bryd. Later they meet Abiodun Oyewole, from rap pioneers The Last Poets. This is a street level view of urban artists spreading a message of Indigenous and Black unity, and social justice. Solidarity was directed by Rongotai Lomas and UHP lead vocalist Dean Hapeta.

My conviction that white people had indeed created a discriminatory and unfair society in both the USA and in Aotearoa was reinforced, and to experience firsthand expressions of solidarity was most heartening. I was strengthened irrevocably.
– Dean Hapeta (aka Te Kupu) on travelling to Detroit and New York in 1990, NZ Musician, June 2016