By The Huffington Post News Editors
Musician John Legend has penned the title track for “The House I Live In,” the documentary about the drug war that was released in theaters last year and has its broadcast debut Monday night on PBS.
He’s just one of the many celebrities who have spoken out against the war on drugs: Danny Glover, Brad Pitt and Russell Simmons all also served as executive producers for the film.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
By capblack
Russell Simmons and his brother Run (of Run DMC fame) were part of my formative years!
Their optimistic, sometimes political music provided a perfect swan song for the gun violence that crack brought in the 1980s.
New York’s draconian gun laws disarm the innocent while the guilty arm themselves to the teeth.
It’s sad to hear Simmons recently say “Black people ain’t got time (for the NRA)” when Jam Master Jay (born Jason Mizell), DJ for his brother’s group, was murdered in 2002.
Mr. Mizell had been previously shot in one of his legs. Could accessible, legal gun ownership have saved his and other NY gun crime victims’ lives?
Perhaps Black folks’ lives aren’t important enough in the “enlightened” North?
Simmons should support Black gun ownership if for no other reason than the sad fact that so many rappers now find themselves targets of angry thugs.
Even Afrocentric female rapper Queen Latifah narrowly escaped an armed carjacking attempt in 1995.
When will Black liberals finally stop allowing thugs to run loose in the Hood?
The irony of the situation isn’t lost on observers who note that many of these same rappers’ lyrics and stage personae also bellow “angry thug!” to the marketplace.
Simmons should want his Black listeners to be able to legally defend themselves since they can’t afford armed bodyguards and police escorts like him.
Safety is a civil right too, and the Hood whose fads made Simmons a multi-millionaire is also the most unsafe place in America.
All brothers like new NRA spokesperson Colion Noir are doing is trying to bring some equality into the picture.
Equality is what it’s all about, isn’t it?
Especially when inner-city thugs in major cities like New York and Chicago enjoy an unequal right to shoot unarmed Black citizens obeying gun laws that leave them defenseless.
Black people without bodyguards don’t have time for uneven odds killing us daily!
Russell Simmons is wrong about the NRA.
Dead wrong, according to inner-city headlines.
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Photo credit: adria.richards (Creative Commons)
Rev Run, a.k.a. Joseph Simmons, is one of the founding members of the pioneering hip-hop group, Run-D.M.C. His hit MTV show, Run’s House, aired for six seasons. Starring alongside his wife Justine and their six children, Run became America’s favorite father and a model of family values, humor, and spirituality. He is the author of Words of Wisdom and the co-author with his wife of Take Back Your Family. Run’s daily inspirational words of wisdom are followed by nearly 3,000,000 people on Twitter and have established him as a thought leader in the world of social media. He is the brother of Daniel “Danny” Simmons, Jr. and Russell Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam Records. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
In a recent interview with MSN’s “The Grio,” Kimora Lee Simmons stated she and former husband Russell Simmons “laid the blueprint” for celebrity designed clothing lines. I think I speak for others when I say, really? Ms. Simmons has definitely carved out a place for herself in the fashion world, and I applaud her for that, but to proclaim she is a founding father of sorts in celebrity fashion is a bit presumptuous. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By capblack
Peace Keepers is a mostly Black male violence mediation group founded by Mr. Dennis Muhammad in 2008, a member of Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam.
Unarmed, they squash “beefs ” (disputes) between urban men before triggers are pulled. Here in New Orleans and elsewhere, they have hotlines people can call when tempers flare.
Media mogul Russell Simmons recently called for Peace Keepers to be deployed as opposed to armed guards or more police in America’s schools.
As a citizen on patrol, I support the Peace Keepers concept since urban men are best positioned to address the homicide exploding in our ranks.
When Russell Simmons said they should be placed in schools instead of armed guards or more police, it raises a question: will school systems fund an organization whose heroic mediation includes close ties to Louis Farrakhan, considered racist and anti-Semitic by many in the mainstream?
Active in 25 US cities and the United Kingdom, if the Farrakhan question can be successfully resolved, the Peace Keepers will mediate disputes beyond their inner-city beat.
“I Am Present For Peace!” is their motto.
More peace is what we need; and where possible, it should be privately provided instead of relying on government.
Here is a video of Mr. Muhammad:
Cap Black The Hood Conservative
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Photo credit: adria.richards (Creative Commons)
