To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic march on Selma, BET has organized a musical concert.
The show is part of a series of events the city will host in remembrance of the pivotal civil rights moment. BET has tapped Bill Whithers, Cicely Tyson and Harry Belafonte in addition to Hip Hop veterans Rick Ross, Bell Biv DeVoe, Flava Flav, Doug E. Fresh, MC Lyte, D-Nice and Vanilla Ice, among others to perform.
The network’s decision to enlist Vanilla Ice has received some backlash.
However, those responsible for selecting Ice – President of BET Event Production and the Executive Vice President of Centric TV –Parker Baxter has defended the decision.
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“Vanilla Ice was in the Soul Train Awards two years ago and he’s a really cool person. When we call him for things he likes working with us and we like working with him,” Baker recently told AL.com, an Alabama based website. “He’s one of the people we call to participate in things with us, and if he can do it he absolutely will. I sent him a text and within two minutes his response was two words: ‘I’m in.'”
BET was reportedly given just over two weeks to assemble the concert, after Selma residents asked the network to participate.
The show will be held on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the same location where police attacked protestors during their march from Selma to the Alabama state capital in Montgomery. Thousands are expected to participate in a march on March 7 – the 50th anniversary of the event, known as “Bloody Sunday.”
One of the highlights of the weekend-long celebration will be a remake performance of the 1989 song “Self Destruction” featuring Ice, Rick Ross, Flava Flav, Bel Biv Devoe, MC Lyte, Doug E. Fresh and others.
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