Rhymefest calls attention to Chicago gun violence with vigil

Rhymefest, the Grammy and Academy Award winning songwriter and "Brand New" rapper, held a vigil in his hometown of Chicago last night to draw attention to the devastating wave of gun violence that has swept the city.

“What we are going to do is a citywide therapy session,” the Blue Collar rapper said in a statement about the vigil's purpose. “We are going to de-stigmatize. We want police, we want young people, we want the seniors, we want the teachers and what we want to do is de-stigmatize coping techniques of just being a Chicagoan. Regardless of violence, just being a Chicagoan where many of us are overtaxed and underemployed.”

"We have too many walls in Chicago and not enough bridges,” he added. “It’s time that we start being solution based in areas others than just the South and West sides of Chicago, because all Chicago is suffering from trauma."

The Chicago Tribune reports that last month was the most violent month in Chicago  for the last twenty years, with over 400 reported shootings and 78 homicides.

  Rhymefest made headlines earlier this year when he was robbed at gunpoint, and then treated poorly by the Chicago police when he tried to report the crime,an incident which the rapper documented on his Twitter. The incident sparked renewed debate about how the Chicago PD treats the city's black residents. “I’ve never been in a situation where I walk in to report a crime and they look at me as the criminal," Rhymefest told local news outlet WGN.

By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com