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Community/Education
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On June 7th, 2002, thousands of New Yorkers assembled at City Hall to protest Mayor Bloomberg's proposed 1.2 million dollar budget cut from the Board of Education. In attendance was music mogul Russell Simmons, one of the prime coordinators for the event, along with hip hop artists Noreaga, Chuck D of Public Enemy, Dougie Fresh, Run DMC's Reverend Run, and Jay-Z. Five-time Grammy award winning R&B singer Alicia Keys was also on hand. The speakers stressed that the rally would not have been possible without the expressed concern of the students & teachers present at the rally. Members of the UFT (United Federation of Teachers) took this opportunity to spotlight the importance for a new and vastly improved salary that will allow teachers to live more comfortably off of their earnings. It was an anonymous understanding; everyone knew full well of the less than stellar academic and financial situations that brought about such a large gathering. |
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Fundamentally
good-natured in intent, the rally still, like any other major event
with a purpose, contained those who came for no more than mere celebrity
sighting. For example, when a speaker from a lesser known city foundation
took the stage, many of the younger audience members weren't very enthusiastic
at all. However when DJ Big Kapp, a renowned disk jockey, threw on a
beat or favored song, the crowd went into a dancing frenzy. It was disappointing.
However, the students did show poise and maturity despite their
disapproval with the restrictions placed on the rally by the police.
On an average day in the city, you can catch mini-ads plastered all over street poles and walls by "street teams" (groups assigned by record labels to market music artists on a grassroots level.) If some of these hip hop artists partnered up with action groups to promote social awareness when it comes to education about issues like the budget cuts, increase in the prison budget, outrageous Rockefellar Drug Laws, or a range of other issues, via street teams, the overall effect of the crowd would have been stronger. It's obvious that the hip hop industry has kids' attention; now, it is only a matter of DOING something with it. Educate! Educate! Educate! It's one to thing to show moral support and then another to show action. My humble suggestion? Flood kids with education on what's going on in their world until they can't stand listening anymore and decide to get up and do something. One of
the more interesting ironies that I overheard, was a police officer
talking to members of the crowd, stating that kids of a certain age
should not have been out of school, despite the situation. Yet there
seemed to be no complaint when Giuliani called on city students to cut
school a couple of years back for the New York Yankees parade. A baseball
parade versus an education rally...and education gets the boot?
Apparently, this action taken by the police shows that priorities are
still in the wrong place in terms of form cognition for our city's youth. |
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