Mothers of Young Men Killed by NYPD Call on Musicians to Write Songs for Justice

This is a call to action from mothers who have lost children to police violence.

By Jorge Rivas Apr 23, 2013

Today, the Justice Committee released a video message from mothers of young men killed by the NYPD that calls on music artists to submit lyrics or songs dedicated to justice for the families. 

"To the artists, I say: We need to hear what is it that I can not express with my voice, or that my son can not express with his voice because he’s not here. So I would like for the artist to bring that pain out that I hold inside from my sons death," says Margarita Rosario who’s son was killed by an officer in 1995. 

The following mothers were featured in the video:

Artists can participate by writing 4 – 8 bars of lyrics to be used in a collaborative song or creating an original piece dedicated to the mothers. The submission deadline is July 1, 2013. For more information, artists can contact the Justice Committee at [email protected].

The video also announced an action outside of the NYPD headquarters at One Police Plaza on May 10th, 4:30 to "call for justice and reforms."

"We ask all parents who lost a loved one to any form of violence to stand in the streets with other parents whose children were killed by the police." 

The Justice Committee was founded in 1983 as the NYC chapter of the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights. Today the groups says their members include "poor, working class and middle class people of color."