Hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons stopped by Dorsey High School in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Inglewood this week to talk reducing violence in their neighborhoods and promoting peace.
Simmons, who joined the 500 students to take a pledge for peace, focused on respecting others to curb violence in their lives and communities. The yogi and advocate of personal reflection also made a pledge to add meditation to the school’s curriculum.
“The groups that you join the activities that you chose, they’re part of being peaceful. It’s an action. You have to go to work on peace. Peace is an action. Just like fighting, just like war, it’s an action,” Simmons said.
The event was held in partnership with RushCard’s Keep the Peace initiative, Simmons’ neighborhood grant program created to support nonprofit, community-based organizations across the country that have “developed unique and successful models for reducing youth violence in their neighborhoods.”
“Reducing violence among our young people in urban neighborhoods has always been one of my most important focuses,” Simmons said. “I consider leaders like Erica Ford, the head of LIFE Camp in Queens, NY, and Thomas C. VandenBerk, the CEO of UCAN in Chicago, to be unsung heroes in the cause to bring peace to our neighborhoods. I have witnessed firsthand their tireless work to heal our communities. I am so pleased that RushCard is supporting these initiatives in cities across the country.”
For more information on RushCard’s Keep the Peace initiative, click here.
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty/Wire
