Rapper Snoop Dogg sings praises of education to kids in event organized by Rev. Toris Young

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/rapper_sings_praises_of_educat.html

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Rapper Snoop Dogg sings praises of education to kids in event organized by Rev. Toris Young
by Brendan McCarthy, The Times-Picayune
Thursday May 07, 2009, 10:46 PM
JENNIFER ZDON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNERapper Snoop Dog signs autographs for students and faculty at Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School in the 9th Ward where he visited with Rev. Toris Young to denounce crime and the inspire the kids to get an education Thursday. See More Pictures
The students at Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary climbed over each other Thursday, pressing their hands and faces to the classroom windows.
Girls puffed their cheeks and covered their mouths with both hands. Boys arched their eyebrows and unleashed a collective gasp.
Snoop Dogg, the controversial rapper and pop culture icon, was here to teach a lesson.
"You should love yourself, " he told them. "Love each other."
Dogg, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., proved to be an intriguing assembly speaker Thursday afternoon, preaching a message of education and anti-violence.
Some might challenge the performer's credentials for this bully pulpit: Broadus' past travails include stints in jail for drugs and a murder charge on which he was acquitted. Last year, for a time, he was banned from Australia -- although that may be of scant concern around New Orleans.
The brief speech and a question-and-answer session was coordinated by the Rev. Toris Young and the Louisiana Ministerial Alliance of Churches For All People.
Young coordinated another irony-laden news conference last month with local rapper C-Murder, who is on house arrest and facing trial for murder in Jefferson Parish.
Young and associates are touting a program that they say will debut this summer and will help keep children off the streets. With a few phone calls, Young secured an appearance by Broadus, who happened to be hosting a concert Thursday night in New Orleans.
So Young sent out a four-page news release with lots of capital letters. Shortly after 2 p.m., Broadus and an entourage dressed in fine suits showed up the St. Claude neighborhood school. Two of his hip-hop colleagues -- both members of the rapper's "Dogg Pound" posse -- joined him. They are named Soopafly and Kurupt (pronounced like the word corrupt).
"All this black-on-black crime needs to stop, for real, " Broadus said in a quick speech before meeting the students.
One of his handlers then warned reporters: "You must be positive about this, think positive."
As awestruck students fidgeted, Broadus asked: who listens to rap? All hands shot up.
He gave highlights of his rags-to-riches story, stressing the importance of going to school. He said his favorite subject was math and suggested that everyone become a calculus wizard. He said he likes football.
He briefly mentioned his scrapes with the law, saying that when he got out of jail he didn't "handle drugs" or "hang with thugs" and decided to do right. He also said that his priorities changed after he became a father.
The students hung on every word and clamored for autographs. After a half-hour, the lithe hip-hop figure with the short ponytail said goodbye.
"Snoop Dogg loves y'all, " he said, winking toward the children as he headed out to his next engagement, at nearby Frederick Douglass High.

Information Researched By: Sister Anonymous