Hip-Hop Community Rallies Against Arpaio

Crossposted from The Sanctuary

The pressure continues to build against the shameful actions of Maricopa County's Joe Arpaio. A week ago, hundreds of community members gathered in the Valley to promote human rights and make it clear that too many lines have been crossed by the sheriff.

Dan Weiss, writing at Imagine 2050, says:

Hours before “Stop The Circus” was to begin I paced nervously in the empty venue. I wondered how the night would end up; if Terrorist Joe would send trouble our way. I imagined the worst, but hoped for the best. I thought to myself ‘if we can pull this off, if the Hip-Hop community can pull this off, we can do anything’.

Thousands of hand shakes and hundreds of signatures later Hip-Hop proved to the world that it can be called upon as a voice of reason in America again. New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Phoenix stood together and let their voices be heard. While Sheriff Joe continues to use violence and terror to spread his message of fear,”Stop the Circus” on the contrary was a peaceful gathering built on respect and tolerance. On February 10th, 400 people met in one room on a few days notice, because they do not tolerate hate or violence, and will not fall victim to fear.

Here is a two-minute YouTube video of the event:

A populist campaign is rising from the streets of nuestra gente. Gritos of ¡Ya Basta! rising like the phoenix in a metropolis of the same name; where a city of tents signal a beacon of darkness and injustice just blocks away from the state's seat of power. If only more people would recognize this familiar evil.

Human beings deserve to be treated like human beings. No exception. When the music starts to play this melody, our human hearts can only futily resist the rhythm.

Let's dance.