Thug Life Army

The Hip-Hop community and hip-hop and rap artists join with NYC Elected Officials to Stop Youth Incarceration, an Outdoor Event on August 12^th.

Renowned Hip-Hop artists and concerned New York State elected officials and advocates will stand on the same stage for the youth event “Unlock the Future: Prevent Youth Incarceration“. On Saturday August 12, 2006 from 10:00am to 2:00pm at Claremont Park (East 170th St. & Teller Avenue) the community will join to celebrate our youth and support efforts to eradicate youth incarceration in the Bronx and throughout New York State.

The event will create awareness about the growing epidemic of youth incarceration and help find ways to protect youth and poor communities. Grassroots Artists MovEment (G.A.ME) an international non-profit membership of artists and activists teamed up with Assemblywoman Aurelia Greene of the South Bronx to convene the event. In addition to helpful information, good music, and fun surprises for kids, local businesses will be donating healthy food to families. Everything is FREE!

Incarceration of Children in the Bronx and USA:

* The South Bronx is home to six of the 15 neighborhoods with the highest rates of youth incarceration and poverty. South Bronx is the poorest neighborhood in the nation.

* In the Bronx, overall, 100% of cases filed in adult courts involved youth of color.

* In the Bronx none of the youth who were detained pretrial were held in adult jails.

* In the Bronx fifty percent of black youth received a sentence of incarceration. Twenty-nine percent of Latino youth received a sentence of incarceration (as opposed to split sentences or probation). (Note: there were no White youth in the sample.)

* In the Bronx no black youth were represented by retained private counsel. Youth who were represented by retained private attorneys were less likely to be convicted and more likely to be transferred back to juvenile court.

* Blacks and Latinos are over 95% of NYC's incarcerated youth, with a 1/3 from the Bronx.

* While crime has decreased, youth incarceration has increased every year for 5 years in NYC.

* Research conducted by the Juvenile Justice Project in NYC revealed when white and black youth were charged with the same offenses with no prior admissions; judges were six times more likely to incarcerate blacks than white youth.

* Human Rights Watch documented nine countries which have failed to provide proper legal representation or a fair hearing to children arrested. The USA is one of them.

* Currently, only six countries sentence youth to the death penalty. The USA executed more youth (9) than any other nation in the world during the 1990's.

For partnership opportunities or for more information please contact Omowale Adewale 917-239-8992 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it