May 31, 2006 – Virgin Islands Project Safe Neighborhoods is calling for entries for the first "Speak Your Peace" music contest to be held in the territory. "Speak your Peace" is 60 seconds of music and words produced by young people from 10 to 22 years of age, that speak out against gun violence.
Wesley M. Hand, law enforcement coordination specialist for the U.S. Attorney's office, said "Speak Your Peace" has had great success in other areas of the country. "Who better to carry the antigun violence message than the young people themselves," Hand said.
Eighteen winners – seven each from St. Thomas and St. Croix and four from St. John – will find their music professionally recorded at the Island SoundWorks recording studio on St. Thomas and published to a full-length CD to be distributed widely throughout the territory.
In addition, each winner will be featured in both radio and television commercials that will air as public service announcements throughout the year.
"Island SoundWorks has been key to the contest, stepping up to the plate on every level," said Lou Lambert, chairman of the Project Safe Neighborhoods media committee and member of the PSN executive committee.
Not only will Island SoundWorks professionally produce the winners' music, Dan McGuinness and Derrick Moore – principals of ISW – have agreed to take their show on the road to local malls and schools the weekend of June 9, 10, and 11 to help anyone who wants to enter the contest record their entry piece, which can be no more than 60 seconds according to the contest rules.
"All of us at Island SoundWorks feel that it is important to do what we can to help in getting guns off the streets of the V.I.," Moore said. "Island SoundWorks felt we had to be a part of this program as soon as we heard about it."
Island SoundWorks is a new state-of-the-art recording facility. "Our focus is island music — whether that be urban, soca, reggae, rock or anything in between," Moore said. "Three audio studios and a new video studio make every project possible right here on St. Thomas."
From noon to 4 p.m. on June 9, 10 and 11, Island SoundWorks will be set up to record entries for anyone who wants to take advantage of using its equipment at Tutu Park Mall on St. Thomas and Sunny Isle on St. Croix.
They are set to record from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 10 at Johns Folly Learning Institute in Coral Bay and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 11 at Bellevue Village Community Center.
McGuiness said if there are still people who need help recording, they can come to the studio after making an appointment with ISW.
Hand was the point person on the idea for the contest. He brought it to the local group after seeing the success it had found in other areas. In September at a national conference for law enforcement coordination specialists in Columbia, S.C., Hand saw the first set of public service announcements that had been done with the winning entries in the Eastern district of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. "Immediately, I saw how getting an antigun message out into the community through music would be perfect for the Virgin Islands," he said.
All winners will be featured at premiers of "Speak Your Peace" to held on all three islands.
Deadline for entries is June 21, 2006. Only one entry per person or group will be accepted. All entries must be submitted with an official entry form filled out along with a cassette, CD or MP3 containing a 30-to-60-second version of their song in one of four categories: Rap/Hip-Hop, R&B, Reggae or Soca/Calypso. Age categories are 10 to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 18 and 19 to 22. Entry forms can be found at the Speak Your Peace Web site. They can also be obtained at Modern Music at Havensight and Nisky Center, JAMZ 105, and For Your Entertainment on St. Thomas.
On St. Croix at: Isle 95 at JKC Communications in Gallows Bay; and on St. John at John's Folly Learning Institute, Bellevue Village Community Center and Connections, both Cruz Bay and Coral Bay locations.
Entries can be dropped off with official entry forms at Modern Music at Havensight and Nisky Center, JAMZ 105, and For Your Entertainment and at V.I. Housing Authority Weed and Seed offices at Estate Bovoni and the Tutu Hi-Rise Community on St. Thomas; on St. Croix at Isle 95 at JKC Communications in Gallows Bay and at Sand Castle in Frederiksted.
On St. John entries can be dropped off at Connections in both Cruz Bay and Coral Bay.
Judges will include local disc jockeys and musicians. Judging will be completed and winners notified by July 21, 2006.
The entry must include one of the following antigun violence messages: "Gun Crime Means Hard Time," "Put Down the Guns," Federal Time for Gun Crime," "Put Your Hands Up, Put the Guns Down," or similar phrases.
Any entry containing foul language or violence will be immediately disqualified.
The recording and filming will take place at the end of July at Island SoundWorks. Transportation will be provided for the winners to the recording studio.
The first 1,000 entrants will receive a T-shirt sponsored by BillyD's Special Tees.
Anyone who would like more information on entering the contest should call 340- 626-7013.
Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in America by networking existing local programs that target gun crime and providing these programs with additional tools necessary to be successful.
To view a short clip of a "Speak Your Peace" psa click here. (Please note those without a high speed connection may experience difficulty viewing this.)
Speak Your Peace Web site.
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