Tuesday’s announcement by Chicago Public Schools officials that one of its famous alumni has joined their Back-to-School campaign is not going over well with everyone.
Tuesday’s announcement by Chicago Public Schools officials that one of its famous alumni has joined their Back-to-School campaign is not going over well with everyone. Mayor Richard M. Daley was joined by Ron Huberman, chief executive officer for CPS, and Michael Scott, president of the Chicago School Board at Robeson High School in Englewood to announce that R&B sensation Jeremih has agreed to use his Twitter account to contact students and encourage them to attend the first day of school, which is Tuesday, Sept. 8. But William “Dock” Walls, a community activist who is running for governor, said using the 22-year-old South Side native sends the wrong message to kids. He opposes Jeremih largely because of Jeremih’s current chart-topping single “Birthday Sex,” which contains sexually suggestive lyrics. His self-titled album carries a “parental advisory” sticker because of its explicit content. “While we respect Jeremih’s commitment to his personal academic accomplishment, we oppose the CPS’s decision to make him the central figure in its Back-to-School promotional campaign,” he said. “Our opposition is based upon the fact that Jeremih’s hit song, “Birthday Sex,” promotes gratuitous sexual acts. This suggested promotional campaign would wrongfully edify Jeremih and give further credence to his lyrics.” Walls voiced his concerns along with other community leaders today at a morning news conference outside CPS headquarters, 125 S. Clark St. However, Huberman defended his decision to enlist Jeremih and downplays any notion that he is not a good role model. “Jeremih is a musician. His music is no different from all other music our kids listen to,” he said. “Kids are using social network sites like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook to communicate with one another, so it makes sense to have a young alumni like Jeremih use the site to reach out to students.” ______ Photo by Jim Wright, courtesy of Universal Music Copyright 2009 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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