Hip Hop and Gospel Music Come Together to Make an IMPACT

Hip Hop and Gospel Music Come Together to Make an IMPACT

Gospel legends highlight four-day festival with forums on urban issues and artist empowerment

MASHANTUCKET, Conn., Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The first annual Urban IMPACT Summit, a four-day music festival and music industry and educational conference, will convene at the world's largest resort casino, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Aug. 7-10. This major event, designed to bridge the worlds of gospel and hip hop, also features opportunities for frank discussions of urban and social justice, finance, health, religious and music industry issues.

The summit, hosted by legendary BET celebrity Dr. Bobby Jones, will feature some of the world's greatest gospel artists, including 15 Grammy award winner Dr. Shirley Caesar, James Hall, The Hawkins Family, Stephen Hurd, Daryl Coley, Candi Staton, Twinkie Clark and others. Also participating are Cheryl "Salt" James, Rapper BBJay, John P. Kee, Olympic silver medalist Annia Hatch, R&B legend Alyson Williams, songwriters David Frazier and Melvin Crispell, and Derek Ferguson, CFO of Bad Boy Records.

Evenings will be capped by a rousing gospel concert. Tickets will be sold separately for each concert. During the day, health and education issues as well as musical issues in the black community will be explored at a series of panel discussions, which will be attended by many of the gospel luminaries, hip hop artists and other celebrities. In addition, a series of "Town Halls" will feature opportunities to discuss and debate social issues with leading social and political leaders, including Connecticut Senator Ernie Newton, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Chairman Michael Thomas, and Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz.

The Urban IMPACT Summit will also focus on how hip hop can communicate positive social messages today. "We believe that hip hop is an enormously influential agent for social change and must be responsibly and proactively utilized to fight the war on poverty and injustice," said Dr. Bobby Jones.

The summit was developed from a conversation between Dr. Jones and entertainment attorney James L. Walker, Jr. With the theme of "embrace, educate and empower," they see the summit as an opportunity to bridge the gap between the gospel and hip hop communities. "I have worked in both genres of music," says Walker. "I've spent most of my life fighting racial injustice and poverty, and now I have an opportunity to give back to the community and prepare the next generation for greater works."

"The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is deeply committed to presenting culturally diverse events and reaching out to the community," said Michael J. Thomas, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. "We are proud and extremely excited to be chosen to host the first annual Urban IMPACT Summit. This is an example of our commitment to advancing issues of importance to diverse communities."

For more information about the Urban IMPACT Summit, and to purchase tickets, log on to http://www.urbanimpactsummit.com/ or call 1-800-FOXWOODS.

About Foxwoods Resort Casino

With a $700 million expansion recently announced that includes a new state-of-the-art 4,000 seat theatre venue, Foxwoods continues to be the ultimate entertainment destination on the East Coast. Foxwoods has hosted more Grammy Award winners than any other venue in New England, many of whom had their first casino debut in the Fox Theatre.

Source: Foxwoods Resort Casino

CONTACT: Sandra Rios of Foxwoods Resort Casino, +1-860-312-4072, srios@mptn-nsn.gov; or Debbie Cook of Colette Phillips Communications, +1-617-357-5777, dcook@cpcglobal.com

Web site: http://www.urbanimpactsummit.com/

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