Spring Break
Concert cancelled
by Mike Prada
Editor in Chief
News | 5/20/08
Posted online at 7:12 AM EST on 5/20/08
A hip-hop concert for social justice planned by Brandeis students and Centro Presente, a local organization for Latin American immigrants, was cancelled for reasons that remain unclear and under investigation by the Somerville police and by the city of Cambridge, Mass., said Prof. David Cunningham (SOC).
The concert, initially scheduled for May 2, was first cancelled in Somerville and then rescheduled at another venue in Cambridge, where it was cancelled a second time, said Blake Hyatt '08, one of the students involved in the project.
The concert was part of a project assigned for Cunningham's "Community Structures and Youth Subcultures" class.
According to Wilbur Renderos, Centro Presente youth leadership program coordinator, Somerville school superintendent Tony Pierantozzi alerted Renderos about the city's concerns regarding the concert. Renderos and Hyatt secured an alternative venue in Cambridge prior to Somerville announcing plans to cancel the concert, said Renderos.
Mayor of Somerville Joseph Curtatone announced the cancellation of the concert in Somerville in a May 2 letter to Executive Director of Centro Presente Maria Elena Letona, citing a lack of proper permitting for the event, said Thomas Champion, the director of communications for the city of Somerville.
The concert, which was initially set to take place at the Somerville high school, was cancelled by the school system with the support of city authorities, said Champion.
Cunningham, Hyatt and Renderos said they turned in the necessary paperwork to obtain a permit for the Somerville location over a month in advance. They said that it was only the Monday before the date of the concert that they learned of any problems with the permit.
"It really does feel like [these cancellations] had more to do with the organization and its particular mission than it had to do with anyone else," said Hyatt.
Champion said Centro Presente should have sent the permit through the mayor's office rather than through the public school system. "The problem was … the way this event surfaced, that is, not through any of the channels that come directly to the mayor's office," Champion said.
The concert, initially scheduled for May 2, was first cancelled in Somerville and then rescheduled at another venue in Cambridge, where it was cancelled a second time, said Blake Hyatt '08, one of the students involved in the project.
The concert was part of a project assigned for Cunningham's "Community Structures and Youth Subcultures" class.
According to Wilbur Renderos, Centro Presente youth leadership program coordinator, Somerville school superintendent Tony Pierantozzi alerted Renderos about the city's concerns regarding the concert. Renderos and Hyatt secured an alternative venue in Cambridge prior to Somerville announcing plans to cancel the concert, said Renderos.
Mayor of Somerville Joseph Curtatone announced the cancellation of the concert in Somerville in a May 2 letter to Executive Director of Centro Presente Maria Elena Letona, citing a lack of proper permitting for the event, said Thomas Champion, the director of communications for the city of Somerville.
The concert, which was initially set to take place at the Somerville high school, was cancelled by the school system with the support of city authorities, said Champion.
Cunningham, Hyatt and Renderos said they turned in the necessary paperwork to obtain a permit for the Somerville location over a month in advance. They said that it was only the Monday before the date of the concert that they learned of any problems with the permit.
"It really does feel like [these cancellations] had more to do with the organization and its particular mission than it had to do with anyone else," said Hyatt.
Champion said Centro Presente should have sent the permit through the mayor's office rather than through the public school system. "The problem was … the way this event surfaced, that is, not through any of the channels that come directly to the mayor's office," Champion said.
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