Forum on Preventing Gun and Gang Violence

The following information was provided by Bergen Community College.

Members of the Bergen County Gang Task Force and the Hip Hop community will discuss the importance of gun and gang awareness at Bergen Community College. 

The College’s Center for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation will host the event, “A Dialogue with Pioneers of Hip Hop and Law Enforcement About Gun and Gang Violence,” on Thursday, November 17, 2011 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Bergen Community College’s main campus in Paramus. The event is free and open to the public. 

The forum will kick off with a panel discussion at 11 a.m. in the Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre. Panelists include Kool Herc, the father of Hip Hop; Lord Cashus D, Zulu Lord and Head of the Chicago Chapter of the Universal Zulu Nation; Yo-Yo, actress, Hip Hop M.C. and Bergen alumna; as well as members of the Bergen County Gang Task Force including Les Poole, Commander of Scotland Yard (retired); Terry Davis, New York City police officer, Bergen alumnus, and Hip Hop B-Boy; and Brian Verkey, New York City police officer and Bergen alumnus. 

A special break-out session will follow from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. in Room L-131. Neal Nabil Howard, a licensed clinical social worker and Hip Hop historian, will speak.

The event is co-sponsored by the College’s Center for the Study of Intercultural Understanding; the Department of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security; the Black History Committee and the College’s School of English. 

For additional information, please contact Jon Yasin jyasin@bergen.edu, Tom La Pointe tlapointe@bergen.edu, or Rich Kuitersrkuiters@bergen.edu.