Mothers Cry for Justice

This is a call to action from mothers who have lost children to police violence: We are asking artists to create music dedicated to the parents of those killed by the NYPD. To all New Yorkers: Join us for the Mothers Cry for Justice Action, May 10, 4:30pm @ One Police Plaza

Submission Instructions

1. Ways to Contribute: As you may know, there are three ways you can support this project.
You can:

● Contribute an original independently produced track that honors the mothers and family members of people killed by the NYPD.

● Record 4--8 bars of vocals (using the attached beat) for a compilation track with various artists that honors mothers' and family members' struggles for justice.

● Share a previously recorded track dedicated to raising awareness around the issue around the violence and discriminatory practices of the NYPD.

2. Content considerations: You may choose to focus your submission on a single family's case, speak to all those who've lost children or somewhere in between. You may want to consider these quotes:

"We need to hear what I cannot express and what my son cannot express because he's not here. I would like for the artists to bring that pain out that I hold inside for my son." ~Margarita Rosario, the mother of Anthony Rosario (killed in 1995).

"These are the young men and women who purchase your cds. Come and show support your support for them. Because they are the future and it could be one of you next. And if they can get gunned down, we might now have a future." ~Constance Malcolm, mother of Ramarley Graham (killed in 2012)

"When you play, let everybody feel the spirits all around them...(The NYPD has) taken away our loved ones and our hearts continually bleed. We want them to know the spirits are surrounding all the parents." ~Juanita Young, mother of Malcolm Ferguson (killed in 2000.)

**There are several family members who have expressed interested in working more intensively with artists. If you would like to be connected to one of these family members please let us know. (We should only add this after we have confirmation from family members.)

3. Information about some of the cases: You can find information about some of the NYPD killings in this timeline and in the attached flyer (provided by the October 22nd Coalition.) Please note: the timeline is not live yet, so please only share with artists that are planning to make submissions. http://staging.pj.palantetech.com/pol...

4. Please be respectful: The mothers request that artists don't curse on the tracks, but urge you to be creatively passionate.

5. The first deadline for submissions is May 5. These submissions will be considered for release at the Mothers Cry for Justice action and performance on May 10, 2013. The final deadline for submissions is July 1, 2013. Please send music in a wav format and email to info@justicecommittee.org.

6. How your submissions will make a difference: The Justice Committee and the Present Collective will be compiling submissions into a mixtape. We plan to released this mixtape in late summer/early fall 2013 in support of the on-going struggle the families of victims of NYPD violence for police accountability in New York City.