Michelle Turner Photo
“Yeah, this is what we talking ‘bout right here. The youth. We gotta start with the youth.”
Rapper Slim Goody had the message from the stage at Goffe Street Park Sunday, as organizers of this year’s rain-canceled Freddie Fixer Parade held a “peace rally” in its stead.
A couple of dozen adults and kids watched rappers Slim Goody and his sister Lady Rock at an end-of-the-day performance that followed appearances by two mayoral candidates, Clifton Graves and Anthony Dawson. Most of the adults in attendance showed their support for the candidates by the T‑shirts they were wearing, as did some of the kids who went on stage with Slim Goody.
Goody asked the kids if they love their parents.
“Yes!” they responded.
“They love you even more, and it’s gonna drive them crazy if they lose you to the streets,” Goody advised. “I know it seems real cool, I know it seems, you know, real hot sometimes, but you gotta understand one thing — you have to love your parents. You have to love yourself.”
Organizer Maurice Smith said the purpose of the event was to spread the word of non-violence; organizers couldn’t get a rain date for the parade itself.
Organizers also wanted to spread the word that they have to raise money for the parade.They decided they would take this day to promote the parade and spread the word about reducing the violence, “as we know is still going on to the city.” He noted the two murders that took places within blocks of the park in the previous two days. “They’re just not getting it,” he said.
Smith said if the 44,000 African Americans living in New Haven gave “just one dollar” each, the parade could be paid for in 2012.
{media_13}To contribute or learn more about the parade, visit this site or contact Maurice Smith at 203 – 558-0066.