Jersey City Educators, Activists Rap On School-to-Prison Pipeline

JERSEY CITY, NJ — A group of Jersey City artists, activists and educators collaborated on a second part to a hip-hop cypher, this time it was about the school-to-prison pipeline.

Titled "Educators' Cypher Pipeline 2,"the song touches on the concept that an unequal education system that disproportionately punishes disenfranchised students pushes those students into the prison system.

In the nearly 5-minute song, local artists Ibn Sharif Shakoor and Lorenzo P. were joined by activist Tony Perkins and former councilman and Lincoln High School principal Chris Gadsden. Each one takes a verse to describe the impact the system has on students.

"Detention, suspension, but hardly no prevention — are we done with the lynchings, could hardly write a sentence," Shakoor raps.

"I don't want to go to prison, I needed interventions, I needed you to listen — the fourth grade I couldn't, didn't get my needs met, I acted out, no restorative justice, punitive," Gadsden raps.

The video was released on YouTube on July 5 and has since gained over 500 views. The Jersey City Public School District has about 30,000 students. According to Niche.com, 38 percent of the district is Hispanic or Latino, 27 percent is African American, 19 percent is Asian and 14 percent is white.