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Plans to reschedule and possibly relocate a downtown youth rap concert have led to confusion and some recriminations.
The concert was originally scheduled to take place on the Green Aug. 3 in conjunction with an annual 3‑on‑3 basketball tourney on Church Street in front of City Hall. As the Independent in this story Thursday, the city decided to postpone the concert portion this weekend but proceed with the tourney.
Acting Police Chief Otoniel Reyes said he moved to have the concert postponed after advance interest turned out to be greater than organizers had anticipated. Concerned about having enough cops to work overtime at both the Green concert and a simultaneous Gospel Fest concert in Goffe Street Park, he recommended changing the date and possibly the venue of the Green concert.
Then a local media outlet published a report Friday leading people to believe that the city had canceled both the tourney and the concert altogether. That led to an outpouring on the web of rumors and accusations that City Hall was ditching events geared to the African-American community, with profane insults hurled directly at Mayor Toni Harp.
The reaction was intense enough that Harp decided to publish a Facebook video (shown at the top of this story) along with local rapper Snowsa, aka Snowprah (read about her breakout video “Yankee Riddim” here), to correct “misinformation” and reassure people that the concert will go on.
“Stay tuned. On Monday you’ll know where and when the concert will be,” Harp concluded.
“I know there are people who feel like the city has let them down by making changes to the anticipated concert,” Harp wrote above the video on her campaign page. “Please know, our first priority is safety. So, changes had to be made. Thank you, Snowsa, for taking the time out to hear the City’s side of the story. We want to support you in your success.
“1. I had to make a safety call due to information our office received.
“2. We listened to the responses of the people who wanted this event to happen.
“3. We are working to make this event happen August 3rd at a different venue.”
“I want y’all to stay positive about this,” Snowsa stated in the video.
Meanwhile, Chief Reyes released this official version of events: “I strongly recommended the basketball concert be rescheduled for another date and that, if possible, it take place in an indoor facility where we can properly ensure a safe environment for the young people in attendance. The resources needed to safely cover these events extend beyond police to include Fire Department, Transportation, Traffic & Parking, Public Works, and others. Spreading out those resources to multiple events present challenges and limit our ability to provide the best public safety possible. We want to provide a safe environment for our citizens, especially our youth.”
