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NEWS : STORIES
NEW YORK — Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Alicia Keys, LL Cool J, Foxy Brown, Noreaga, Loon, Flipmode Squad, Wu-Tang Clan and others gave an all-star sheen Tuesday to a massive protest against a proposal to slash more than $1 billion from the city's
Much of the credit for the turnout goes to Russell Simmons — when he calls on you, saying no is not an option. "Russell hollered at me. The godfather is good at keeping everything focused, especially with our children," said P. Diddy, who would go on to lead the estimated 60,000 protesters in chants of "We ain't havin' it." "If they don't have education, they have no future. It's unfair for people that don't have money to go to private schools to have over $1 billion cut from their funding. This is a positive way for the kids to understand how to protest and speak out and how to get the mayor and the people that make decisions to listen. I think [Mayor Michael Bloomberg] is gonna watch the news tonight and realize he has a problem on his hands," Diddy said. "We are not just gonna take what we're given," an adamant Alicia Keys said, standing on a makeshift stage across from City Hall. "We're not gonna take $1.2 billion in cuts. We're worth more than that." For the five-time Grammy winner, having gripes with how the government treats schools is nothing new. "I'm a New York City resident, born and raised here," she explained before going up to speak to the sea of onlookers. "When I was in school we were fighting the same fights against budget cuts. Once again they constantly want to take from the system of education, from schools, from the people that are going to be the future. I'm out here to show my support that we're not going to accept this." "We really gotta let elected officials know that they are elected officials," Jay-Z noted before he got onstage. "When the people are upset, they gotta listen to what the people are saying. There aren't enough books and not enough materials in the schools today. They're overdoing it now — $1 billion is going a little too far." Simmons said the protest was more about the people voicing their opinions than putting the bad mouth on Bloomberg. "It's about reminding him that the people do care and want to prioritize their education," he said. He suggested that such massive cuts wouldn't have been proposed if people hadn't been so silent in the past. "Last year, even in a time of prosperity, they cut over $400 million, and I think the people were too silent. It's had a devastating effect on our education system already." Tuesday's rally was a virtual parade of stars as the performers arrived, answered a few questions from the press, spoke their peace onstage, and were whisked away almost as quickly as they were ushered in. LL Cool J said that although many rappers were there to vocalize their opinions, the rally was "beyond hip-hop." "It's just a lot of individual people that have a lot of feelings about the culture and our words," he said. "Me personally, I'm here 'cause I think education is important. For me it's less about hip-hop and more about education. Kids being educated, anything that's gonna affect kids being educated in a negative way, I'm here to support the opposite. Everyone can't afford private school, so we need our public schools to be as laced-up as possible. ... There are a lot of places that we can take money from, I agree, but not education." An event spokesperson estimated 10,000 had to be turned away from the rally's barricaded perimeters, including Wyclef Jean, who was so peeved he laid in the street as a form of demonstration. He was lead away by police in handcuffs after refusing to leave. Like Clef, Simmons said he's not scared to fight, even if it takes a long time. "I think we've already won or gotten [Bloomberg's] attention, because they've decided to postpone his decision," the multimedia savant said. "The City Council is going to have a lot of energy to fight him with when they see the masses care about their education." — Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Sway Calloway This report is provided by MTV News
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