Hip-hop stars urge young people to vote

On a stage outside a North Philadelphia theater where some of the greatest R&B artists once performed, Jay-Z and other members of the hip-hop elite exhorted 10,000 young people yesterday to become part of history by voting for Sen. Barack Obama.

A throng of energized young people, many of them Temple University students, gathered in front of the historic Uptown Theater on Broad Street about 1 p.m. to hear rappers Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs and singer Mary J. Blige urge them to cast ballots for the senator from Illinois.

"I need y'all to be really, really quiet for this. I need you to really understand what I'm telling you," Jay-Z said. "Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama's running so we all can fly."

Emphasizing the need to finally put words to action after a long campaign season, the New York rapper, whose real name is Sean Carter, said, "The time has come. The time has come. We can't hold your hand anymore."

"It's time for tough love. What are you going to do? If you go out and vote for change, we win," Jay-Z said, drawing loud cheers.

Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words Vote or Die, Combs said that when he was a third grader and people asked what he wanted to be in life, he would tell them he wanted to be a garbage man, though he really wanted to be president.

"I was too scared to say it because I thought I would be laughed at," Combs said. "It's a new day right now and my son is in fourth grade, and when they ask him what he wants to be, now he can say he wants to be president of the United States. That's all because of Barack Obama."

Blige, acknowledging the need to read a prepared text, said, "The only way Barack Obama will win this election is if we do something different."

She cautioned the audience to be prepared to stand in long lines and not to leave until they vote. "That's where your strength should kick in," she said.

Amid the crowd waving signs that read "Change we need" was Amara Ogbonna, 19, a sophomore biology major at Temple from Cinnaminson.

"Not only am I voting for the first time, but I have the potential to have my vote count for the first black president, and also someone who is going to have a huge impact on our country and everything else. I am excited," she said, adding that many at Temple shared her excitement.

Khadia Conteh, 20, a Temple junior majoring in legal studies, said Obama's candidacy "gives everyone hope that anyone can be president. Students are very excited for Obama."

Conteh said she would vote at 16th and Jefferson. "I don't mind standing in line. I will bring a book and a lawn chair. I can be in line all day."

Jay-Z urged the crowd to be prepared to vote and to bring others to cast their ballots.

"You have to vote. You have to vote in force. It's not enough for you to vote," Jay-Z said. "You have to bring your mama. You got to bring your auntie. You got to bring everybody. . . . So many people lost their lives and sacrificed for this privilege we have today."