Los Angeles, CA - April 5, 2001 - Taqwa Development Group (TDG) Executive Board Member, Anas Canon, and Concert Coordinator, Wesam Nassar, today announced a Hip Hop for Consciousness Benefit Concert for Jamil Al-Amin (formerly H. Rap Brown) on Saturday May 12th, 2001 at the Watts Labor Community Action Center (WLCAC) in Los Angeles, California.

The Hip Hop for Consciousness benefit concert will generate revenue for the Justice Fund, which enables Al-Amin's legal team to pursue every avenue of justice, and helps support his family in this time of need. The line up will include Mos Def, Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Planet Asia, Mystic, Zion I, Cointelpro, Triplex and Azeem along with others to be announced shortly.

"Taqwa Development Group saw an opportunity to take a proactive stance, to bring America's attention to Imam Jamil's case by catapulting it out of the historically racist and classist court rooms of the South and into the court of public opinion," said Canon. "You can put a gag order on Al-Amin and his defense, but you can't put a gag order on hip hop."

"We are only facilitating a stage for these musicians. Our goal is to provide them with a platform from which their talent can inspire their listeners to a greater consciousness," added Nassar. "Hip Hop consistently reflects the most brutal realities within American culture. Sometimes through providing poignant interpretations of desolate urban existence while at other moments galvanizing the energy of the youth to thrust controversial social ills into the mainstream media."

If you are interested in researching this case further please visit:
www.peacethrujustice.org, http://www.mindspring.com/~altafb, http://www.al-talib.com or http://www.imamjamil.com.

ABOUT TAQWA DEVELOPMENT GROUP
Founded in 2000, Taqwa Development Group (TDG) is a non-profit organization committed to universal improvement of the human condition. It aims to raise the standard of the current public discourse regarding social, economic and environmental issues. TDG has embarked upon various projects ranging from community development to legislative advocacy.