Hip-Hop & R&B
took over Friday night (September 9) on BET’s live Saving Ourselves (S.O.S) Relief
Telethon.
The event
raised over $10 million dollars for the millions of people affected by the devastation
of Hurricane Katrina.
Donations came in
all sizes. Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs handed over a $1 million check
to the American Red Cross while others, such as Mary J. Blige, gave her 10-carat
diamond ring right off of her finger.
The massive ring will
be up for bid on in BET’s online auction.
Lil’ Jon and Crunk
Energy Juice donated $250,000.
"We at Crunk
and BME (Lil’ Jon’s record label) saw that we also needed to join in on the
efforts to help the victims of hurricane Katrina so we stepped up," Lil’
Jon told AllHipHop.com. "We are also partnering with Delta to fly families
to certain destinations as well as housing 30 people in Atlanta."
Sentiments ran
high as Kimora Lee Simmons, who donated $100,000 alongside her husband Russell,
began crying during her emotional plea for donations.
Rapper David Banner,
a Mississippi native who recently visited the Gulf, didn’t hold back and expressed
frustration with the media coverage of the disaster.
"I went to
the coast and there is nothing there," Banner said. "I watch how my
people are portrayed. I was affected and insulted."
Added fellow Southern
artist Young City [aka Chopper]: "We never thought it was going to hit
like that. I lost my grandma. Some of my friends died."
Rapper Q-Tip offered
advice about how to avoid gentrification in areas that are being rebuilt.
"We are trying
to raise funds for the reconstruction of the Gulf. That’s prime, water-front
property down there. I’m pretty sure when Vice President Dick Cheney went down
there, he went on double duty. In a situation like this you get to prey on the
unfortunate. We have to do everything we can as a hip-hop community to secure
that (land) and to keep that as ours."
National Urban
League president and former mayor of New Orleans Marc Morial echoed Q-Tip in
a moving speech.
"The city
must be rebuilt as the diverse, cultural gumbo that it was," Morial explained
to reporters. "Without that, it’s not New Orleans , its’ a fake cheap penny
ante imitation."
Veteran comic and
"Chappelle’s Show" cast member Paul Mooney said that race relations
in the country could be healed further by the Katrina disaster.
"America is
arrogant. Thank God for Bush. He is going to bring white people and Black people
together," he joked. "My Indian friends called me from the reservation
and said, ‘We told you. What goes around comes around. It’s just God.’"
Hidden Beach recording
artist Jill Scott didn’t quite agree with Mooney’s comedic remarks.
"It’s heartbreaking
for everybody. God is ever present He has not disappeared He’s in every step,"
she said.
Russell Simmons
said that he would adopt a very unconventional method of clothing those in need.
"There are
so many millions of (Phat Farm) clothes that are bootlegged and we are looking
to give them, instead of burning them."
Donations will
be given to the American Red Cross.
The charity has
received $536 million in gifts and pledges for the hurricane victims, of which
an estimated $282.5 million has been received online.
At least .91 cents
of every dollar donated to the American Red Cross goes directly to assist disaster
victims.
