Hip Hop's Nonviolent Protests Get Results

NEW YORK (Top 40 Charts) - The New York hip hop community is calling their march on City Hall two weeks ago to protest educational budget cuts by the city's new Republican mayor, a victory. Mayor Michael Bloomberg backed down on his proposed cuts, and even gave teachers a 16% raise, after a few leaders in the community, many who belong to the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (a year-old mobilization organization led by Russell Simmons), helped him see the light.

"You've got a mayor who's a billionaire who wants to take the opportunity away from you to become the same kind of person," shouted out Chuck D to students at the City Hall rally where he was joined by entertainers LL Cool Jay, Jay Z, Foxy Brown, Erykah Badu, Cynthia Nixon, Alicia Keys, P. Diddy and more. "For most of these kids, this was their first experience protesting,� noted respected black leader, Minister Benjamin Muhammad. �It was our goal to empower them � the reinstatement of the $298 million into the budget, not to mention the settlement of the teachers' contracts, empowered them in a big way."