(BLACK PR WIRE) (NEW YORK, NY) – For years, rap music has been a controversial topic due to its explicit content and views. Appealing primarily to generations of urban youth, the graphic gang and sexually-oriented messages expressed in it can have damaging effects on the mind-set of society’s youth. Young people in urban areas have adopted the thug/gangster mentality praised in rap music and are set on a steady path of self-destruction. In light of society’s glorification of violence, going against the grain might seem insurmountable for some but not for BK Music recording artist, Kevin L. Stepson of the legendary Ray Charles, Kevin L is a revolutionary Rhythm and Praise (R&P) artist delivering positive messages. This talented visionary is the founder of The H13 Project which serves as a solution to the epidemics affecting our neighborhoods. The national impact of the H13 Project has been so effective and profound that human rights activist, Reverend Al Sharpton, decided to unite with Kevin L on this nationwide movement. Rev. Sharpton, a leader in the fight to discourage abusive rap lyrics, commends Kevin L on his use of clean lyrics and has joined the H13 Project to serve as spokesperson. Negative criticism and death threats have not deterred him from continuing his efforts to hold those accountable for degrading lyrical content. The undaunted Rev. Sharpton states, “Every record company has what they call a lyrics committee, where they screen lyrics to make sure they’re not against police, or gays or Jews. Well, how come they’re clearing lyrics against blacks and women?” Rev. Sharpton and Kevin L believe media conglomerates such as Viacom, who own and operate BET (Black Entertainment Television) and MTV (Music Television) networks, should be reprimanded for airing content harmful to citizens. Day in and day out, impressionable urban youth view content on these networks debasing and denigrating the Black population. Unopposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), these networks are allowed to transmit socially–abrasive messages and generate millions of revenue to the detriment of society.

With the popularity of offensive rap music and the increase in crime plaguing urban communities, there’s an urgency to address these issues. According to recent national FBI statistics, crime (murder, rape, larceny, etc.) has significantly risen and is being committed by youth. KEVIN L created the H13 Project to provide mentoring, through school and community outreach, for children nationwide lacking direction. The H13 Project will directly enter neighborhoods with high incidences of crime to encourage youth to reach for the skies and not the tech nine. Cities such as Newark, NJ will be visited where there have been approximately 20 killings within the last 3 months and where high school statistics are horrifying - students entering high school are testing below the 6th grade level. Baltimore, MD, ranking 12th amongst most dangerous cities in the U.S. and the 2nd most dangerous city in the U.S. with a population over 500,000, will also be visited. Philadelphia, PA is targeted due to increasing numbers of students attacking teachers and sabotaging classroom learning. The H13 Project targets other urban cities including Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL and Washington, D.C. to lend assistance.

The media industry needs to become actively involved because the actions of one affect us all. For more information on KEVIN L and the H13 Project log onto www.souledoutcd.com.

NEW ORLEANS —  A state appeals court on Friday threw out the only remaining conviction against one of the black teenagers accused in the beating of a white schoolmate in the racially tense north Louisiana town of Jena.

Mychal Bell, 17, should not have been tried as an adult, the state 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal said in tossing his conviction on aggravated battery, for which he was to have been sentenced Thursday. His conspiracy conviction in the December beating of student Justin Barker was already thrown out by another court.

Bell, who was 16 at the time of the beating, and four others were originally charged with attempted second-degree murder. Those charges brought widespread criticism that blacks were being treated more harshly than whites following racial altercations involving Jena High.

Civil rights leaders, including the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, had been planning a rally in support of the teens for the day Bell was to have been sentenced.

Teenagers can be tried as adults in Louisiana for some violent crimes, including attempted murder, but aggravated battery is not one of those crimes, the court said.

Defense lawyers had argued that the aggravated battery case should not have been tried in adult court once the attempted murder charge was reduced.

The case “remains exclusively in juvenile court,” the Third Circuit ruled.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Rev. Al Sharpton called for an investigation of the district attorney prosecuting a group of black teenagers on serious criminal charges stemming from a Louisiana school fight involving a white classmate. In a telephone interview Sunday from New York, Sharpton also said he would join thousands of people in Jena on Sept. 20 — the day one of the teens is scheduled to be sentenced on an aggravated second-degree battery conviction. Mychal Bell faces up to 15 years in prison. “After that, if we need to, we’ll go to Baton Rouge and see the governor and the Legislature,” Sharpton said. Sharpton said he wants the state attorney general and judicial oversight agencies to investigate the actions of LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters. A telephone message left at Walters’ residence was not returned Sunday. He has previously said he cannot comment because of the pending cases. Today in Americas On 9/11 anniversary, looking inward to explain terrorist attacks Petraeus sees partial pullout by 2008 Interest grows in limiting life tenure in Supreme Court The case drew protests after five of the six teens, dubbed the “Jena Six,” were originally charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, carrying sentences of up to 80 years in prison. The sixth was charged in juvenile court. The beating victim, who is white, was treated for injuries at a hospital and released the same day, and a motive for the alleged Dec. 4 attack at Jena High School was never established. The beating came amid tense race relations in Jena, a mostly white town of 3,000 in north-central Louisiana. After a black student sat under a tree on the school campus where white students traditionally congregated, three nooses were hung in the tree. Students accused of placing the nooses were suspended from school for a short period. In Jena on Sunday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson urged residents to come together to demand equal justice. “Why be fighting when we can turn to each other and find common ground?” Jackson said. “Jena is too small not to move together.”

 Pressure from the top down! This has been a issue that has not been raised to the top. Here are the Congressional and Senatorial Delegates for Louisiana. Have them contact the DA and the judge.
Sacha Louisiana Congressional Delegation U.S. Senate

FURTHER CONTACT INFORMATION

The Jena 6 Defense Committee
PO Box 2798,
Jena, LA  71342
jena6defense@gmail.com <mailto:jena6defense@gmail.com>
Murphy McMillan, Mayor
P.O. Box 26
Jena, La.  71342
Phone (318) 992-2148

To contact District Attorney Reed Walters directly:
Reed Walters, District Attorney
28th Judicial District
PO Box 1940
Jena, Louisiana  71342-1940
(318) 992-8282
Fax: (318) 992-4731
contact Governor Kathleen Blanco
Write:
Office of the Governor
Attn: Constituent Services
P.O. Box 94004
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004
Fax: 225-342-7099
Call:
866-366-1121
225-342-0991
225-342-7015

CONTACT JUDGE J.P. MAUFFRAY:
1050 COURTHOUSE STREET
P.O. BOX 1316
JENA, LA  71342
(318)992-2002- phone
(318)992-8701-fax