Michelle Turner Photo
Hillhouse Principal Kermit Carolina with Russell Simmons.
The Godfather of Hip-Hop has one word for spreading the peace at Hillhouse High School: Om.
Music mogul Russell Simmons is bringing the practice that accompanies that word — transcendental meditation — to New Haven’s second-biggest high school.
The celebrity producer and entrepreneur announced during a visit to the city Tuesday that he’s paying to have Hillhouse’s teachers learn TM so they can in turn teach it to the school’s students. The idea is to have everyone chill out and meditate twice a day, once the program gets under way.
That was but one highlight of a whirlwind day in which the celebrity inspired an auditorium full of 800 people at Hillhouse, then appeared at a $200 to $500-a-ticket fundraiser for the NAACP held at Rodrick Gilchrist Fashion House.
The NAACP, R.J. Julia Booksellers, NewAlliance Bank, and the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven sponsored the visit.
Simmons was the picture of what one has come to expect: humble, calm, wearing a light colored sweater over a white-collar shirt, jeans with gleaming white sneakers, the obligatory Yankees baseball cap, and a high-end Maybach vehicle, complete with driver.
Simmons, considered the godfather of Hip-Hop music, whose brand has expanded to clothing, stage performance, jewelry and finance, is known to the younger generation as “Uncle Rush.” He makes appearances on MTV’s “Run’s House,” a reality show revolving around the family life of his brother, Joseph Simmons, the “Run” in rap duo Run-DMC. He is the ex-husband of former model, entrepreneur and reality-show star Kimora Lee, and he’s the reality star of his own show.
What one probably didn’t expect: Simmons is a vegan who also wants to spread TM — and a non-materialistic, spiritual mission in general — to young people in cities.
Simmons came to New Haven to promote his new book, “Super Rich.” The title refers not to gaining material wealth, but to achieving “spiritual wealth.”
Electrified students in Hillhouse’s auditorium received autographed copies of the book and listened intently as Principal Kermit Carolina interviewed Simmons on the stage. After a color guard presentation of the flag, with the national anthem played on the saxophone by Corey Staggers, a video greeting to Simmons from the Hillhouse students, a poetry reading by Aoysia Jean of a Def Poetry Jam piece, and a violin piece from Justin Green, the conversation began.
Simmons and Carolina discussed the definition of success, the running of Simmons’ five charities, why he’s vegan (“Man being given domain over animals doesn’t mean we have animals birthed, only to overfeed them and then use them for our needs”), the new book, and the value of taking a break during the day to meditate.
Simmons told the students that “sitting quiet” for a couple of times during the day will bring them better, positive thoughts. If they sit and listen to their thoughts, he said, they can watch their thoughts and see what’s positive and what’s negative.
He then went on to talk about another music mogul, Sean “Diddy” Combs. “When I was in a meeting with [record company owner] Andre Harrell, this kid did everything possible to make sure I had everything I needed. I didn’t even ask him for the cup of coffee. He just appeared and put in my hands; he anticipated my needs. He worked his butt off. He was a servant — a nd now, he’s a president of a company. He has a servant’s heart.”
Simmons told the students he wants them to become “great givers and good getters.” He also said he wants the students to be “awake.”
Toward that end, he announced his decision to pay for training for members of the Hillhouse staff to train in a program that helps students use transcendental meditation to alleviate stress. The program was founded by the David Lynch Foundation. It has been used in a high school in Washington, D.C.
Hillhouse students Dante Britto (foreground in photo) and Joseph Sebastian said they liked Simmons’ message. “The majority of his message was hard work pays off,” Britto said.
Senior Jason Burgo said he learned al lot “about passion, about being conscious, about being aware of yourself and your environments. Doing what you have to do to be successful … I’m taking that to heart.”
Sophomore Sherell Nesbith wants to become a nurse. She said what Simmons said had an impact on her because “I don’t want to go out and have a problem with anybody out there, and I want them to understand where I’m coming from. The money issue, what he was talking about, I don’t see people out there giving money to younger people that need it.”
Nesbith said she knows people close to her who got involved in the drug life and went to jail. “So I basically understand what he was talking about. It shows me that, that’s not my path, that I should follow in my own footsteps.”
Later in the day, at the NAACP reception at Rodrick Gilchrist Fashion House at Whalley and Blake in Westville Village, those who paid $200 got an autographed copy of “Super Rich.”
R.J. Julia’s Roxanne Coady with Simmons at the fundraiser.
Those who paid $500 got to “meet and greet” with Simmons and take a picture with him.
