Russell Simmons took a hit to his reputation last month, when he authorized a sex-tape parody featuring abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Despite apologizing for the video, Simmons believed much of the backlash was unwarranted and accused the media of trying to “Paula Deen” him. Since today marks Uncle Rush’s 56th birthday, we thought we would highlight his recent act of philanthropy in the community.
This week Simmons put the incident behind him and continued his good work in the community. According to thegrio.com:
“Simmons sent Tweets to help raise money for a New-York-based anti-violence program that has launched a campaign on the fundraising site Crowdtilt.
“The program, called Life Camp, is a non-profit violence prevention program that is hoping to raise $100,000 to help end gun violence and provide positive alternatives to kids and young adults.
“According to the Crowdtilt page, a government grant was delayed, which ultimately led to the closing of the community center.
“Since most of the program’s resources have been exhausted, the program’s founders turned to the crowd funding site to raise money.”
The former Def Jam co-founder announced he’d donated $10,000 and looked to his millions of Twitter followers to add to the pot:
“Who can give $5, $10, $20 to save program that has saved lives of so many young people?? NO MORE BULLETS IN THE HOOD! http://tilt.tc/snyD.”
This followed his earlier tweet:
“first ten people to donate $10 or more to keep one of the most critical anti-violence programs open, gets a RT.”
