Local 1200 is a crew of DJs, beat-makers, graffiti writers, and party people using culture to ignite the political imagination of the hip-hop generation. The members include DJ Theo, Sake One, DJ Namane, Tim D, and Willie Maze. Local 1200 was founded in 1997 to create positive and challenging spaces for young people to express themselves and build communtities of resistance. Local 1200 locates itself in the best traditions of hip-hop culture, which has struggled to voice the frustrations and aspirations of poor and oppressed people across the world. Using the canvas of cultural self-expression as a foundation. Local 1200 brings the Do-It Yourself ethic of the old school to the Get-It-Together climate of today, providing the soundtrack to the struggle. Local 1200 produces cultural events and parties with political themes to raise spirits, funds, and consciousness. Local 1200 is neither a non-profit organization nor a for-profit venture, but a collectively-operated nucleus of dues-paying members who contribute equally to the group’s work. Local 1200 also collaborates with a wide range of progressive and radical community organizing groups on rallies, community events, and cultural programs in an attempt to bridge the gap between cultural expression and political struggle. THE MEANING OF THE NAME: ‘1200’ comes from the model number for two of the primary tools of hip-hop musical expression: the Technics 1200 MKII DJ turntable, and the E-MU SP1200 digital sampler and drum machine. ‘Local’ refers to the local, politically and culturally grounded origins of the members of the crew, and also references the working class spirit of union locals. In 1999, Local 1200 won a Goldies Award in the San Francisco Bay Guardian