The following is an excerpt from this Washington Square News article.

“In a night of music, mayhem and activist spirit, the NYU community came together for the Students for Haiti Benefit Concert — an event that raised money for the country still struggling in the aftermath of its earthquake earlier this year.

Organized by NYU’s Student Senators Council, the concert brought performers Nyle (an NYU alum), Blitz the Ambassador, Katia Cadet and K Bain to Skirball Center, with all proceeds going to UNICEF, which will then aid Haiti.

Mustfa Manzur, student senator-at-large, was the main organizer of the event. He wanted to create an event that would both raise money and appeal to students.

“We started planning [the concert] the Friday after the earthquake happened,” Manzur said. “It was really a grassroots effort — finding friends of friends who might know someone, and trying to build a framework for an event that would catch students’ interests. The concert became a way to get students to help out without asking them to do too much.”

The performers were enthusiastic to play for NYU students and show their support for Haiti by doing something they loved. Each act ended with a message from the performer, urging students to help make a difference for Haiti, as well as in their own communities, even after they left the concert hall.

Blitz the Ambassador, an MC from Ghana who performed a blend of spoken word and hip-hop with his jazz collective the Embassy Ensemble had one such message for the audience.

“It is truly an honor to be here with a couple of fabulous musicians doing what we do,” Blitz said. “It’s people just like us who’ve lost their homes in Haiti. They are us. I know that all of us have volunteered at some point in our lives. We’re helping a lot today, too.”

He finished with: “Now get up. This is hip-hop, it’s not a frickin’ recital.”

Students who attended the concert echoed the need for initiative in the movement to assist Haiti during this trying time.

“We just have to support Haiti,” Steinhardt student Andrea Warren said. “I think this is amazing. We’re fully engaged.”

Samantha Wilson is a staff writer.”