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FinalCall.com News
National News
Hip hop caucus focuses on ending community violence
By Jesse Muhammad
Staff Writer
Updated Dec 12, 2006 - 6:57:00 PM
NEW ORLEANS (FinalCall.com) - There have been 141 homicides in New Orleans this year; two of the most recent murders took place on the same block within two hours apart on the same day. In an effort to see what the hip hop community could do to help stop the increase in homicides, the Hip Hop Caucus Institute, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., along with local and nationally known hip hop artists organized a town hall meeting on violence on the eve of the historic Bayou Classic football game, between Southern and Grambling University.
The town hall meeting was announced during a press conference by the Hip Hop Caucus prior to the event.
“We will not have a 22nd Century if we do not solve this. This must stop,” Hip Hop Caucus President Reverend Lennox Yearwood Jr. said at a news conference in front of John McDonogh Senior High School the day before the event.
A sign at the entrance of the school read: “Gun Free/Drug Free Zone.” Rev. Yearwood was joined by other officials with the nonprofit Hip Hop Caucus and members of other community activist groups.
He maintained that violent gun crime is a major obstacle for displaced residents wishing to return to the New Orleans area 15 months after Hurricane Katrina chased them away. Activists and the Caucus members also said the growing violence in New Orleans cannot be solved by law enforcement alone. They pointed to issues such as poor schools, limited housing and scarce economic opportunities that must be addressed.
“Crime is not a Black or White thing. It’s not a rich or poor thing,” Rev. Yearwood said.
Joe Blakk, caucus field coordinator for New Orleans, said, “Anybody can speak of the issues, but actions speak louder than words.” The pioneer of the New Orleans hip hop scene continued, “We need to get a handle on this.”
Billed as a “Stop the Violence” town hall meeting, youth, parents and concerned citizens gathered to hear city officials, local/national hip hop artists and community activists discuss the issue of the rising gun violence in the city. The town hall meeting consisted of two separate groups of panelists.
Appearing on the first panel was local rapper L.O.G.; community activist Ronald Coleman; Minster Dwayne Thompson of Alabama Youth Against Violence; Kenneth Barnes Sr., president of ROOT Inc. (Reaching Out to Others Together) of Washington, D.C.; Shakoor Aljuwani of St. Luke’s Homecoming Center in New Orleans; and Nation of Islam Minister Willie Muhammad of Muhammad’s Mosque No. 46.
Mr. Barnes, who lost a son to a gun-related murder, called gun violence a “public health emergency.”
“There’s an epidemic taking place in America today. That epidemic is death by gun violence,” he said.
L.O.G., a native of the Lower Ninth Ward, acknowledged how the music he made in the past contributed to the destructive atmosphere that exists in the city.
“I apologize for the old music I used to make. But now, since I have gotten away from that type of music, I don’t receive the support that I need to feed my family. The other artists who continue to make that music are supported instead,” he admitted.
In a response to a question about specific actions to end the violence and how the hip hop community can assist, Min. Willie discussed the importance of fatherhood and the need of the hip hop community to step up.
“Over the past 30 years, the rise in violent crime parallels the rise in families abandoned by fathers. There is an African proverb that says, ‘The ruining of a nation begins in the homes of its families.’ What each of us, as men who are fathers, can do today is be a father to our children and work harder at keeping our families intact. And Sisters, you also have to work to keep the family together,” Min. Willie offered. “Minds are influenced and trends are started due to what hip hop artists say through a microphone. The artists have to be made to believe that they can use that same influence to produce a positive change in our community. During the early 90’s on both coasts, we saw rappers produce songs against violence like ‘We All In The Same Gang’ and “Self-Destruction.’ When will our local artists come together and do the same here in the city and more,” he continued.
In between the panels, attendees listened to various hip hop artists and spoken word artists. Local poet Shed “Da Poet” performed an original piece called, “Whose Hood Is the Hardest?” The poem is based upon the discussion of two young boys talking about how hard each of their neighborhoods are: one’s idea of hard focuses on the “gangsta lifestyle” and the other’s idea on “the trials of being Black and poor” on the school courtyard.
The second panel featured hip hop veteran Doug E. Fresh; Roosevelt Muhammad, CEO of the Urban Youth Movement; Malik Rahiem of Common Ground; Cristal Muhammad, regional representative of the New Black Panther Party; Councilmen James Carter; Baton Rouge hip hop artist Silky Slim; and Houston hip hop artist Slim Thug.
The panel discussed the need of political activism, self-dependence and the role of hip hop in transforming the Black community.
“I felt that the least I could do was to use my name and popularity to attract the youth to come out and hear something that can help save them,” shared Slim Thug.
Rev. Yearwood continued to stress to the members of the hip hop community that, “Katrina is our lunch counter moment! This is our Gettysburg! We have to seize this opportunity as the hip hop community to have our voice heard and show our political strength.”
