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Newsbrief:
Hip-Hop
Summit
Announces
Mass
Rally
Against
Drug
War
at
GOP
Convention
5/14/04
New York City is going to
be a very busy place when the Republicans venture into potentially hostile
territory for the national convention at the end of August. Numerous
groups are already planning protests and demonstrations, and now hip-hop
entrepreneur turned social activist Russell Simmons and his Hip-Hop Summit
Action Network (http://www.hiphopsummitactionnetwork.org),
or HSAN have filed for a permit to hold a demonstration outside Madison
Square Garden, where the convention will take place, on August 30, the
meeting's opening day.
The "Mobilization to Focus
on Ending the Rockefeller Drug Laws in New York State and Mandatory Minimum
Sentences Throughout the United States" will draw 50,000 people, the New
York Civil Liberties Union estimated, in the permit application it helped
draft for the demonstration.
 |
|
Russell Simmons
addresses the media
at the June 4, 2003 rally
(photo courtesy 15yearstolife.com) |
|
Given Simmons' past performance,
such a turnout is not unlikely. Last June, Simmons and a slew of
hip-hop performers drew tens of thousands to midtown Manhattan on a rainy
day in an effort to break the legislative stalemate that has stymied reform
or repeal of the state's draconian Rockefeller drug laws (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/290/tensofthousands.shtml).
And Simmons and HSAN have promised more star power this time around, with
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Nas, 50 Cent, Ludacris, Mariah Carey and Carly Simon
among those slated to attend the rally. "We intend to raise public
awareness by mobilizing tens of thousands of young people to register to
vote and to speak out about the unfairness of the Rockefeller Drug Laws,"
Simmons told AllHipHop.com. "This will be the biggest hip-hop gathering
ever, and we intend for our voices to be heard. We will not be silenced.
The March on New York is going down. It will be the illest march
in history."
Late last month, Simmons
and Dr. Benjamin Chavis Muhammad, president and CEO of HSAN, issued a call to youth
leaders across the country to organize busloads of young people to travel
to New York City for the demonstration and Hip-Hop Action Summit.
They should come to New York to protest "the unfairness of the Rockefeller
Drug Laws and other mandatory minimum sentences, as well as support for
more funding for equal, high quality education in the public school systems
throughout the nation," said the pair.
While emphasizing the injustice
of the drug war, Simmons and Muhammad are also placing that struggle within
the context of a broader progressive agenda. "The March on New York
is a march for freedom, justice and equality," said Muhammad. "We are
saying 'no' to Rockefeller Drug Laws and we are saying 'yes' to youth voter
registration and mobilization, as well as saying 'yes' to equal, high quality
education for in all public schools. We are saying 'no' to the war
in Iraq and 'yes' to a war on poverty and ignorance in America. Hip-hop
is about spitting truth in the face of injustice," said Muhammad.
-- END --
|
Issue #337, 5/14/04
Editorial: Always Another Angle |
Russia Enacts Sweeping Reforms in Drug Laws: No Jail for Possession |
Maryland Treatment Not Jail Bill Signed Into Law |
Canada Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Dying as Government Prepares to Call Elections, Few Mourners |
Calls for Sentencing Reform Grow in Arizona |
Announcing: "The New Prohibition: Voices of Dissent Challenge the Drug War" -- New Compendium by Sheriff Masters Features David Borden and Numerous Other Thinkers on Drug Policy |
Newsbrief: Local Prosecutor Tries to Block Atlantic City Needle Exchange, Would Be New Jersey's First |
Newsbrief: Pennsylvania Attorney General Hops on Prescription Drug Abuse Bandwagon |
Newsbrief: Ohio Appeals Court Upholds City's Harsh Marijuana Penalties |
Newsbrief: Congress Defeats Effort to Abolish Cap on US Troops in Colombia |
Newsbrief: Anti-Drug Ads Pique Curiosity, Researcher Finds |
Newsbrief: Alcohol Prohibition Coming to Nigerian State |
Newsbrief: Study Finds "No Increased Risk" for Marijuana-Using Drivers |
Newsbrief: Hip-Hop Summit Announces Mass Rally Against Drug War at GOP Convention |
Newsbrief: Finnish Green MP Causes Flap with Admission of Cannabis Use |
Newsbrief: Million Marijuana Marches, Continued -- Rocking in Rosario, Repression in Russia and Israel |
This Week in History |
Job Opportunity: Program Coordinator, International Harm Reduction Development Program, OSI |
The Reformer's Calendar
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