| Lennox Yearwood, Jr | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 1971 Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Education | University of the District of Columbia Howard University |
| Occupation | Minister / Activist |
| Religious stance | Pentecostal |
Lennox Yearwood, Jr. is an American minister, activist, and hip hop organizer. He has served as a White House intern under President Bill Clinton and currently serves as CEO of the Hip-Hop Caucus (H2C) in Washington, D.C..
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Early P. Diddy days
Reverend Yearwood was the National Grassroots and Political Director for the Russell Simmons’ Hip Hop Summit Action Network, and was a Senior Consultant for P. Diddy’s Citizen Change, and Jay Z’s Voice Your Choice, where he provided a national template for engaging the Hip-Hop generation in community-building dialogues. He was also the founder of Hip Hop Voices, a subsidiary of Voices for Working Families (AFL-CIO), and the Hip Hop U.N., which is a coalition of all the Hip Hop Political organizations throughout the world.
During the 2004 Presidential election, Yearwood created, along with Russell Simmons and Jonathan Lewis, the first ever Hip Hop Team Vote Bus Tour, to ensure that young people were challenging the established political order in a most profound and substantive manner.
Affiliations
In addition, Yearwood is the Chairman of the Board for E.G.O.S (Education, Goals, Opportunities, and Sports) United Inc., and Helping the Homeless of the World Inc., as well as a member of the Board of Directors for the Progressive Democrats of America, ROOT Inc., Industry Ears, and is on the steering committee for UP (United Progressives) for Democracy, United for Peace and Justice and Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq, as well as serving on the board of Pace e Bene. He has an office in the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. Yearwood is a graduate of the University of the District of Columbia, a predominately black and latino public university, and the Howard University Divinity School, part of the historically black university system. He was the Student Government President at both schools. He was ordained a minister in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in 2002. [1]
Activism
Heal the Hood
After Hurricane Katrina, on September 19th, 2005, David Banner joined forces with fellow artists and Yearwood for “Heal the Hood.” The event was held in New York City at B.B. King’s to raise money for survivors of Hurricane Katrina. [2]
Troop Funding Vote
Yearwood and others protested the United States Senate passage of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 on 2007-04-26. Yearwood, and thirteen other protesters, were arrested in the Hart Senate Office Building[3]
Guantanamo Bay
Yearwood organized a hip hop concert at 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. dubbed "Shut It Down", calling for the end of what Yearwood claims to be torture at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp and for the camp's closure. The concert featured Dead Prez and several other hip hop artists. Amnesty International and the ACLU helped with the event. [4]
Petraeus Hearing
Yearwood was arrested by Capitol Hill police outside of a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on 2007-09-10, and charged with disorderly conduct and assault on a police officer. According to Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, spokeswoman for the Capitol Police, Yearwood was stopped from entering the room after allegedly attempting to cut in front of people waiting to get in. “What he tried to do was jump to the front of the line. He was told he couldn’t do that,” Schneider said. “And he pretty much charged at the officers to get past them into the room, after he was told not to.”[5] In a press release from the Hip Hop Caucus Yearwood said that he was prevented from entering the hearing because he was wearing a button that says "I love the people of Iraq." [5] In the press release he called his arrest an example of “democracy while black.” [6] UPI reports that the video being circulated on the Internet "does not seem to show an assault."[6] Yearwood was treated at George Washington University Hospital "for injuries to his ankle" according to Liz Havstad, a spokeswoman for the Hip-Hop Caucus.[6] In an interview three days later on the Democracy Now! news program, Reverend Yearwood told Amy Goodman that he asked Capital Police if he could leave the line to do a radio interview and was told okay.[7] In the YouTube video of the arrest, multiple people are heard agreeing that he was already in line. In the interview Yearwood claimed he had tore ligaments in his leg, and said he was on crutches.
External links
- Lennox Yearwood's Myspace Account
- Youtube video of Yearwood's September 10, 2007 arrest
- Amy Goodman's Democracy Now interview with the Reverend
References
- ^ http://www.ivaw.org/node/1144
- ^ Daily Hip-Hop News, Heal The Hood Recap: Banner Leads Charge Of 17 Acts For Historical Hip-Hop Relief Concert (Sept., 2005)
- ^ Zeese, Kevin (2007-04-27). Fourteen Arrested Urging End to War and Impeachment of President. Democracy Rising. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
- ^ Cities for Progress, Hip-hop Artists Urge Guantanamo Shutdown(June, 2007)
- ^ a b O'Connor, Seamus. "Former lieutenant arrested at Petraeus hearing", Air Force Times, Army Times Publishing Company, 2007-09-12. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
- ^ a b c "Rev. in hospital after anti-war arrest", United Press International, 2007-09-12. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
- ^ "Democracy While Black" - Rev. Lennox Yearwood Arrested, Charged with Assault While Entering Petraeus Hearing. Democracy Now! (2007-09-13). Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
