James Davis, a Friend to Hip-hop Remembered

Many of you have heard about the tragic shooting of New York City Councilman James Davis yesterday.

I work by City Hall and when I heard what what going on I turned to Google News and found that the story, only 45 minutes old, had spread far and wide on the internet. Most articles were filled with reports that were later found to be rumors and half-truths (as usual). Amist all the nonsense I found one good article of interest to us. So props to Newsday staff writer Curtis Taylor for writing about Councilman Davis' life from with the point of view of the hip-hop community (we mourn our heroes too, y'know). Excerpt:

To honor the slain councilman, Charles Fisher, founder and chairman of the Jamaica-based Hip Hop Summit Youth Council, said the hip-hop community would rally around Davis' dream to build a Stop the Violence center in Brooklyn by helping to raise funds with local elected officials.

"It is my hope that in his memory we can continue the Stop the Violence movement, and build the center that he so much talked about," Fisher said...

..."James Davis considered himself a true hip-hop politician and could relate to the culture," Fisher said. "He was committed to using the positive influence of hip-hop for the social, economic and political empowerment of our youth.

"He felt that by bringing hip-hop artists, and the sports communities together they would be able to deal with the violence that plagues urban communities across the country," said Fisher, who said he cried when he heard the news.

Hip-hop Mogul Russell Simmons, slated to participate in the August rally, said Davis' death was a blow to the hip-hop community and all New Yorkers....

R.I.P.