Hip-Hop Summit gets out the vote

Hip-Hop Summitgets out the vote
DETROIT -- The hip-hop generation must educate itself and head to the polls in this fall's election, according to speakers at the Hip-Hop Summit, which drew artists and others from the music industry.
Rap mogul Russell Simmons, whose Hip-Hop Summit Action Network puts on the traveling event, said the young must make a difference in their communities and the world.
"Those of us who work in the hip-hop industry know this is the best generation in the world," Simmons told a crowd of music fans Saturday at the Fox Theatre. "And come November, they are going to see that this is the most powerful generation that the world has seen."
Simmons said the power of hip hop comes from its ability to unite people of different races and religions.
"It's very important that we flex these muscles in November," he said.
The Hip-Hop Team Vote effort holds voter registration drives at summit cities. It recently registered 50,000 voters in Los Angeles and 80,000 in Philadelphia. Midway through Saturday's event, the group said it had signed up at least 70,000 Michigan voters -- including 40,000 in Detroit.
Paul Newman openscamp for ill children
Paul Newman, joined by movie-star buddy Bruce Willis and other celebrities, unveiled the sixth of his Hole in the Wall Gang camps for chronically ill children in Lake Hughes, Calif., on the edge of the state's high desert.
"A lot of people have ideas and never do anything about them," Newman said at Saturday's dedication of Painted Turtle Camp. "A lot of people have dreams and never do anything about them. When you have ideas and dreams, you do something about it, and that's what we've done here. There's going to be a lot of comfort here, a lot of sweetness here."
The camp, with its whale-shaped, wheelchair-accessible swimming pool and gardens planted to minimize allergens, is designed for children too ill to attend a traditional summer camp.
"It's a very special thing they're doing here," said Willis.
After the 173-acre camp's dedication, guests took a tour and were entertained by Sugar Ray, violinist Joshua Bell and dancer Savion Glover.
The facility, a former recreational vehicle campground, cost $28 million to convert to Painted Turtle Camp.
Newman's first Hole in the Wall Gang Camp opened in 1988 in Ashford, Conn. The seventh is scheduled to open this year in North Carolina.
Today's birthdays
Comedian Tommy Chong is 66. Singer Bob Dylan is 63. Actor Gary Burghoff is 61. Singer Patti LaBelle is 60. Actress Priscilla Presley is 59. Country singer Mike Reid is 57. Actor Jim Broadbent is 54. Actor Alfred Molina is 51. Singer Rosanne Cash is 49. Actress Kristin Scott Thomas is 44. Rock musician Vivian Trimble is 41. Actor John C. Reilly is 39. Actor Eric Close is 37. Rapper-recording executive Heavy D is 37. Rock musician Rich Robinson is 35. Actor Billy L. Sullivan is 24. Actor-rapper Big Tyme is 21. Country singer Billy Gilman is 16.