Lennox Yearwood

Infobox Person
name = Lennox Yearwood, Jr


image_size = 178x165px
birth_date = October 14, 1969
birth_place = Shreveport, Louisiana
education = University of the District of Columbia
Howard University
occupation = Minister / Activist
religion = Christian

Lennox Yearwood, Jr., is a minister, community activist, and one of the most influential people in Hip Hop political life. Firmly grounded in his Caribbean and Louisiana roots, Rev. Yearwood is a fierce advocate for the poor and minorities. A powerful and fiery orator, Yearwood works diligently and tirelessly to encourage the Hip Hop generation to utilize its political and social voice.

He currently serves as President of the Hip Hop Caucus in Washington, D.C. The Hip Hop Caucus is a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan, organization that inspires and motivates those born after the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Yearwood is known for his activist work as the National Director of the Gulf Coast Renewal Campaign in which he organized a coalition of national organizations and grassroots organizations to advocate for the rights of Hurricane Katrina survivors. More recently, Yearwood has become an important figure in both the peace and climate movements as an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq and the Bush Administration “dependence” on oil. He was an Officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and led a "Make Hip Hop Not War" national tour to engage more young people in the movement for peace; he is currently a member of the Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Yearwood was a co-creator of the 2004 campaign "Vote or Die" with Sean "Diddy" Combs. He was also the Political and Grassroots Director for Russell Simmons' Hip Hop Summit Action Network in 2003 and 2004, and a Senior Consultant to Jay Z's Voice Your Choice.

Yearwood has been seen on CNN, BET Tonight, Al Jazeera, PBS, Fox, MTV, BBC, C-Span, and Hardball with Chris Mathews and featured in the Washington Post, The New York Times and VIBE.

Early years and education

Yearwood, was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He earned his undergraduate degree from University of the District of Columbia in 1998 and was awarded a M.Div. degree from Howard University in May 2002.

Early P. Diddy days

Reverend Yearwood was the National Grassroots and Political Director for the Russell Simmons’ Hip Hop Summit Action Network, and was a Senior Consultant for P. Diddy’s Citizen Change, and Jay Z’s Voice Your Choice, where he provided a national template for engaging the Hip-Hop generation in community-building dialogues. He was also the founder of Hip Hop Voices, a subsidiary of Voices for Working Families (AFL-CIO), and the Hip Hop U.N., which is a coalition of all the Hip Hop Political organizations throughout the world.

During the 2004 Presidential election, Yearwood created, along with Russell Simmons and Jonathan Lewis, the first ever Hip Hop Team Vote Bus Tour, to ensure that young people were challenging the established political order in a most profound and substantive manner.

Affiliations

In addition, Yearwood is the Chairman of the Board for E.G.O.S (Education, Goals, Opportunities, and Sports) United Inc., as well as a member of the Board of Directors for the Progressive Democrats of America, ROOT Inc., Industry Ears, and is on the steering committee for UP (United Progressives) for Democracy, United for Peace and Justice and Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq, as well as serving on the board of Pace e Bene.

Yearwood is a graduate of the University of the District of Columbia, a predominately black and Latino public university, and the Howard University Divinity School, part of the historically black university system. He was the Student Government President at both schools. He was ordained a minister in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in 2002. [ [http://www.ivaw.org/node/1144 Now is the time for us to stand up and stand together | Iraq Veterans Against the War ] ]

Activism

From the Hill to Hood

After Hurricane Katrina, on September 19, 2005, David Banner joined forces with fellow artists and Yearwood for “From the Hill to Hood.” The event was held in New York City to raise money for survivors of Hurricane Katrina. [ Daily Hip-Hop News, [http://sohh.com/articles/article.php/7561 Heal The Hood Rec
] (Sept., 2005) ]

Troop funding vote

Yearwood and others protested the United States Senate passage of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 on 2007-04-26. Yearwood, and thirteen other protesters, were arrested in the Hart Senate Office Building [cite web |url=http://democracyrising.us/content/view/893/151/ |title=Fourteen Arrested Urging End to War and Impeachment of President |accessdate=2007-09-12 |last=Zeese |first=Kevin |date=2007-04-27 |publisher=Democracy Rising ]

Guantanamo Bay

Yearwood organized a hip hop concert at in Washington, D.C. dubbed "Shut It Down", calling for the end of what Yearwood claims to be torture at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp and for the camp's closure. The concert featured Dead Prez and several other hip hop artists. Amnesty International and the ACLU helped with the event. [ Cities for Progress, [http://citiesforprogress.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=368 Hip-hop Artists Urge Guantanamo Shutdown] (June, 2007) ]

Petraeus hearing

Yearwood was arrested by Capitol Hill police outside of a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on 2007-09-10, and charged with disorderly conduct and assault on a police officer. According to Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, spokeswoman for the Capitol Police, Yearwood was stopped from entering the room after allegedly attempting to cut in front of people waiting to get in. “What he tried to do was jump to the front of the line. He was told he couldn’t do that,” Schneider said. “And he pretty much charged at the officers to get past them into the room, after he was told not to.”cite news |first=Seamus |last=O'Connor |title=Former lieutenant arrested at Petraeus hearing |url=http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/09/airforce_yearwood_arrest_070911/ |format= |work= Air Force Times |publisher= Army Times Publishing Company |date=2007-09-12 |accessdate=2007-09-12]

In a press release from the Hip Hop Caucus Yearwood said that he was prevented from entering the hearing because he was wearing a button that says "I love the people of Iraq." In the press release he called his arrest an example of “democracy while black.” UPI reports that the video being circulated on the Internet "does not seem to show an assault."

Yearwood was treated at George Washington University Hospital "for injuries to his ankle" according to Liz Havstad, a spokeswoman for the Hip-Hop Caucus.cite news |title=Rev. in hospital after anti-war arrest |url=http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Emerging_Threats/Briefing/2007/09/12/rev_in_hospital_after_antiwar_arrest/4163/ |publisher=United Press International |date=2007-09-12 |accessdate=2007-09-12]

In an interview three days later on the Democracy Now! news program, Yearwood told Amy Goodman that he asked Capitol Police if he could leave the line to do a radio interview and was told okay.cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/13/1445202 |title="Democracy While Black" - Rev. Lennox Yearwood Arrested, Charged with Assault While Entering Petraeus Hearing |accessdate=2007-09-14 |date=2007-09-13 |publisher=Democracy Now!] In the YouTube video of the arrest, multiple people are heard agreeing that he was already in line. In the interview Yearwood claimed he had torn ligaments in his leg, and said he was on crutches.

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/RevYearwood Lennox Yearwood's Myspace Account]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiradcejA6o Youtube video of Yearwood's September 10, 2007 arrest]
* [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/13/1445202 Amy Goodman's Democracy Now interview with the Reverend]

References