34th Westheimer Peace Symposium Offers Three-Day 'Festival of Nonviolence'
Che “Rhymefest” Smith said each of us has a gift we can share with the world, “a gift that also heals ourselves, heals seven generations back and seven generations into the future.” We just need to realize it.
Rhymefest is a Grammy and Golden Globe Award-winning composer, musician and hip-hop artist who shared a message of hope — hope that racial, religious, socio-economic, rural/urban, red/blue and all the other divides in American society can be bridged, resulting in a more peaceful nation and world.
His keynote performance opened the 34th annual Westheimer Peace Symposium, which, from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2 featured the theme of “A Festival of Nonviolence” and three days of workshops, programs and activism all geared toward creating peaceful solutions.
Rhymefest said his gift is perspective, which allows him to feel empathy and compassion for others. “Once you speak as the authentic you, your gift will become apparent,” he said, noting that, sadly, “A lot of us are never given permission to be our authentic selves.”
In sharing his story, Rhymefest praised his grandmother and superstar Kanye West’s mother for the profound effect they had on his life and music. Rhymefest grew up on the south side of Chicago, the child of a 15-year-old mother and absentee father. He became friends with West (now a superstar rap artist, composer and promoter) in their early teens.
Rhymefest saw in Dr. Donna West an intelligent, sophisticated woman with a clear worldview and many positive traits of a caring mother. “I didn’t really like Kanye; I was attracted to the nature of his mother.,” he said.
The aggressive, gangster rap, musical genre of the 1990s depicted the culture of urban gangs and street hustlers. The young Rhymefest and Kanye were enthralled by the musicians’ hedonism and affluent lifestyle.,
“What we heard on the radio was kill, kill, kill, shoot, shoot, shoot, sell drugs. We mimicked in our music what was on the radio: drugs, sex, violence,” he said. One day, they shared their original music compositions with Dr. West, who challenged, “Is this who you are? Do you want to be a drug dealer, a gangster?” Rhymefest replied, ‘No, I just want to be famous.”
It was then he began realizing the power of words. “Words are real things. Be careful what you say,” he said. “The word comes with commitment. Remember, your word is powerful!”
Rhymefest also lauded his grandmother, whose demise affects him to this day. “She taught me Stevie Wonder, The O-Jays, Temptations and Bob Marley,” he said. “When she had dementia, it was like a monster snatched her spirit, but she never forgot those songs, the sweetest songs in the world.”
Rhymefest viewed that as a further testament to the transformative power of music.
Throughout his musical performance at WC with disc jockey L.O. Kari and Russoul, the vocalist/keyboardist, Rhymefest wove together stories from his life and how he became devoted to bridging divides in society. He noted how he and his wife lived in rural Wyoming for several months and came to know many residents — rural, white, conservative, Donald Trump supporters — as valued friends.
He elaborated recalling that, early in their stay, a policeman seemed to follow him everywhere he went. Racial profiling? Harassment? One day, he decided to exceed his comfort zone and pursue his mantra of working to overcome divides by attending the local, white evangelical church. He entered with a sense of trepidation but he received a warm welcome and quickly realized these were good people. Also, the day’s sermon was similar to what he would have heard at his Black church in Chicago.
“I made the best friends at that church,” he said. “The cop was a member — me and William are now best friends!”