A group of eight hip-hop activists and thought-leaders published a MoveOn.org petition yesterday (April 18) in response to sexual abuse allegations against genre pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. 

"In light of the recent accusations against Afrika Bambaataa, we the hip-hop community hold ourselves and our peers to a high standard of moral responsibility," the petition reads. "We do not condone sexual abuse or violence against children or anyone for that matter. We recommend that Afrika Bambaataa continue to address this situation directly and uphold the morals that he himself has pushed and inspired in many of us."

Paradise Gray, a veteran DJ, organizer and 1Hood Media principal, spearheaded the effort.* The main signatories include DJ Kuttin Kandi, scholar Mark Anthony Neal and journalists Davey D and Bakari Kitwana. 

They created the petition in response to numerous men’s allegations that Bambaataa sexually abused them when they were young. Bambaataa refuted the allegations to Rolling Stone, while the Zulu Nation (to which several of the petition’s signatories claim allegiance) called one accuser "both a liar and a government paid police informant."

Read the petition in full here and check out the growing list of signatories.

*Piece has been updated since publication to include leader Paradise Gray.