June 28, 2024 – RBG Communiversity: Message 2 Da Grassroots

This Post/Lesson is a RBG Tribute to DJ Scott La Rock

In 1988, during a concert by Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy, a young fan was killed in a fight. The killing occurred shortly after Scott La Rock, a founding member of Boogie Down Productions, was killed in a shooting. KRS-One responded to these deaths by forming the Stop the Violence Movement to advance a vision of Hip Hop that would restore what he called Hip Hop’s original principles to the music industry. Composed of some of the biggest stars in contemporary East Coast Hip Hop, the movement released a single, “Self Destruction”, in 1989, with all proceeds going to the National Urban League. A music video was created, and a VHS cassette entitled Overcoming Self-Destruction—the Making of the Self-Destruction Video was also released.

Stop the Violence: Overcoming Self-Destruction. George, Nelson, Ed. The story of the Stop the Violence movement among rap music artists and music industry colleagues is told, along with the story of a video that was produced as part of this initiative. The Stop the Violence project grew out of the reaction to violence among concert goers at a 1987 rap concert on Long Island (New York). Rap musicians have joined projects that are centered around the “Self-Destruction” video, which is a rap performance calling for an end to violence and promoting positive action by young people to combat crime. The book contains lyrics, statements by the rappers, statistics about urban violence, letters from young people about their experiences of black-on-black crime, and the story of the Stop the Violence movement. Comments by the artists complement the project. Contains a 32-item reading list prepared by some contributors. (Source: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED377284)

Pop the document out from the upper right to read / expand / download.

Supplemental_The Making of The Self Destruction Video