By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
Ahead of his performance during a Magic City Classic showcase last week, legendary rapper Doug E. Fresh participated in an anti-violence panel discussion at Birmingham’s A.H. Parker High School.
The rapper talked about growing up in Harlem, New York, in the 80s, at the height of the crack era and asked, “How many of y’all know somebody that used drugs, and later they’re not the same anymore? So guess what? So as much as you believe that the drug is making you feel good, it’s actually destroying you,” he said.
In the early 1980s Fresh was part of two songs, “The Show” and “La Di Da Di“, which are considered early hip hop classics. “La Di Da Di”, in particular, is one of the most sampled songs in music history.
His Birmingham visit was hosted by State Representative Juandalynn Givan who was joined on the panel by Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr as well as other law enforcement officials who spoke words of encouragement to the ninth through 12th graders.
Fresh encouraged the students to have conversations with those older who have their best interests in mind. “What you’re going to see is that you don’t know as much as you think you know. You’ll learn that as smart as you think you are, you’ll be shocked at how much you don’t know,” he said.
Givan said Fresh was speaking to an important demographic. “He’s doing this out of generosity from his heart,” she said. “… We have a killing issue in the city of Birmingham. We have an issue with our youth somewhere between 15 to 18.”
During the panel discussion, Givan said, “We wanted him to come because being from New York, he knows what it means to walk those mean streets. He knows what it means to hustle and to avoid those bullets. Most importantly he knows what it means to simply be able to fight in a way so that you can live to see another day.”
Carr told the students that if they commit a crime, that can mean life in prison or even the death penalty. “You can choose to participate in crime, but you can’t choose the consequences,” he said.
