Stop the Violence

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. (SLD)