Business mogul and chairman of Def Jam, one of the most dominate record labels today, Russell Simmons will be partnering with the National Urban League’s President Hugh B. Price to begin a new program titled Urban Leaguer Def Jam Reader. This new program will be targeting the young hip-hop followers between the ages of 13-17, to increase reading and take charge leadership among their peers. The program will use an interactive website, computer training, speeches, books, song lyrics and reading and technology festivals to keep the young people entertained while they learn.
Russell Simmons anticipates celebrities and recording artists to help support the program by appearing in selected events. An advisory board and selection council will be created to help choose the reading selections and govern the program. Over the next three years this program will be implemented in two phases all across the country. Phase I will begin as early as February 2003 in Los Angeles, Dallas, New York, Dallas, Illinois. During 2004 to 2005 the program will expand to an additional twenty markets. . The Urban League is one of the nations largest community-based non- profit movements that lead the fight to empower African-Americans nationwide.
