Russell Simmons talks about Rush Philanthropic Arts

Founded in 1995 by Russell Simmons, the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation is dedicated to providing disadvantaged urban youth with significant exposure and access to the arts.  Here is what Russell had to say about Rush for Variety Magazine:

 

Russell Simmons:

 

"We wouldn't have survived if not for art and art education and practicing art. We wouldn't have survived. My friends are dead or in jail. I'm not. Appreciation of art expression is what saved me and saved my brother Danny.

"We had a summit. I was reading so much negativity in the media about hip-hop, and I told them that we were going to hold this summit. So, we had this first summit with Will Smith, Jay Z, Puffy, Cool Jay, Queen Latifah and all these (other) people and all these five candidates who were running for mayor, which is a testament to how powerful hip-hop was. All five showed up, and the head of the Urban League, and the head of the NAACP at the time, he showed up.

"The excitement was about what we could do with our power. The fact is that the hip-hop community had done more for race relations than any group in the history of the country. We had brought young people together. Eminem and 50 Cent had recognized the same struggle. This is where America was today, and these young people are going to be the leaders. And everybody was so inspired by that, and they were like, 'When's the next summit?'

"It wasn't meant to be a hip-hop summit; it was just a summit. We made commitments. We talked about a reader program; it's called Hip Hop Reader. It was a literacy program. It was all these leaders and powerful people in civil rights and social and political profit, uplifting the community. And they all came because rappers were getting together. They all recognized the power of rappers.

"It's caught on. These guys are recognizing their power, and they're using it in a good way.

Source: Variety