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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ricky Clemon/212- 558-5371
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
[email protected]
Ivette Mendez/Verizon
973-649-4834
[email protected]
PRESS CONTACT: Jody Miller/JLM PR, Inc.
212 431-5227/[email protected]
Ellen Zoe Golden/ [email protected]
MARC H. MORIAL, THE NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE, VERIZON, THE HIP-HOP SUMMIT ACTION NETWORK KICK-OFF THE HIP-HOP READER.COM INITIATIVE
WHO: Marc H. Morial, President & CEO National Urban League Patrick Gaston, President, The Verizon Foundation Russell Simmons, Chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network Dr. Benjamin Chavis, President & CEO of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network Mayor Michael Bloomberg (invited) Chancellor Joel Klein (invited)
Invited hip-hop artists include: Fabolous, Foxy Brown, Doug E. Fresh, and Reverend Run.
WHAT: Hip-Hop Reader is a youth literacy and leadership program designed to enhance the reading interest, technology usage, and civic engagement of urban high school students. The program is being piloted in New York City through funding from The Verizon Foundation with the support of the New York City Department of Education and Public Libraries. Students who register to the program on www.hiphopreader.com can interact with members of the Hip-Hop Reader Leadership Council, which consists of hip-hop artists, educators, public servants, and other celebrities who create the Hip-Hop Reader Reading List. Students can earn prize-redeemable points for reading the lyrics, poetry, and books on the Hip-Hop Reader Reading List, and for participating in local events. Points can be redeemed for prizes, which are donated by merchandise sponsors and shipped to students via their schools.
WHERE: School For Democracy & Leadership 600 Kingston Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11203 718-771-4865
WHEN: Wednesday, February 9, 2005 – 12:30 p.m.
National Urban League (www.nul.org) Established in 1910, The Urban League is the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream. Today, the National Urban League, headquartered in New York City, spearheads the non-partisan efforts of its local affiliates. There are over 100 local affiliates of the National Urban League located in 35 states and the District of Columbia providing direct services to more than 2 million people nationwide through programs, advocacy and research.
The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), the largest non-profit, nonpartisan national coalition of hip-hop artists and recording industry executives, was founded in 2001 by Russell Simmons. The organization is dedicated to harnessing the cultural relevance of hip-hop music while serving as a catalyst for education advocacy and other societal concerns fundamental to the well being of _at-risk_ youth throughout the United States.
The Verizon Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications. The foundation uses its resources in the United States and abroad to develop partnerships in technology and connect them with organizations serving the needs of diverse communities, people with disabilities, victims of domestic violence, and the economically and socially disadvantaged.
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