Melvin Glover, better known by his stage names, Melle Mel and Grandmaster Melle Mel, was born in the Bronx on May 15, 1961. He is a recording artist who was the lead vocalist and songwriter with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and has been releasing music through the decades since 1979. His latest work was released in 2016.

 

Melle Mel said it took him about 20 years to understand exactly what Jones meant by that. “It is the truth, and I’m telling you on my own. Don’t listen to nobody! You got to see the world on your own, for yourself,” he said. Referring to nobody in particular, he then said, “Don’t listen to her! We can’t make it? We might can’t make it but you, brother, you can make it! You sister, you can take it!”

 

As his words were met with applause and shouts of “That’s right!” and “Amen!” he continued, “You know why I know you can make it? ‘Cause I made it! I made it. We did it. We set something up and it’s set up right to today. You got the richest black people in America – they come from hip hop.”

 

He went on to explain how hip hop was born and evolved in the Bronx right around where he used to live, adding that if Bronxites couldn’t make it in the industry, nobody could make it.

 

“Youth empowerment!” he continued. “If y’all can’t do it, it ain’t goin’ to get done. Ain’t nobody gonna come – ain’t no politician, ain’t no priest, ain’t no reverend – they ain’t gonna save you. We can save us! You can save me! Like I said, if I’m lookin’ for a dentist, my man, you gonna have to be a dentist. You ain’t gonna be none of the homies.”

“They got jails ready for you to go to,” he said. “I ain’t never been to jail. I ain’t never shot nobody. I ain’t never stabbed nobody. I’m scared to go to jail. You hear me?”

 

Encouraging the youth present not to get involved in crime, he said, “You don’t do that! I ain’t never been about that. It’s about youth empowerment – the power of a young man to know history, or your woman to know her strength, and know what it is – your family, your kids, your neighborhood – everybody has to make an investment in your future, and that’s every day.”

 

“You think about being better every day. Even me, myself, if you look at me right now, I know for a fact a lot of people ain’t about nothin’,” he said. “And they’ll tell you things that make you think you ain’t about nothin’ and you know why I know they ain’t about nothin’?” he asked. “Because I know for a fact I ain’t about nothin’. But I work on myself each and every day. You know what I’m saying? You have to work. There ain’t nobody gonna put you on.”

 

 

He continued, “Jay Z ain’t gonna drive up and say, ‘Hey, my man, what you doin’? Why don’t you come work for Rockefeller records?’ That ain’t gonna happen. But, if you go to that school, and you study and you study, and you study, and even after you get out of school, I’m still studying.”

 

Melle Mel then went on to explain that life was a never-ending cycle of education, and how he still works on himself. “Because I know!” he said. “There was an older brother back in the day – they gave me a pass and that’s the only reason why Melle Mel is here today, and like I said, you go in that school – you study. We don’t need no gangbangers. We don’t need no pimps. We don’t need no strippers. We need doctors, lawyers, scientists, scholars, teachers, principals, and we gonna police ourselves, so we got to be the police. Do you hear me? And if you don’t think you can learn in school, you teach yourself, and you do it. I did it. I still do it.”

One of the leading civil rights organizations in the nation, NAN was founded in 1991 by the Reverend Al Sharpton. According to its website, it works within the spirit and tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, criminal record, economic status, gender, gender expression, or sexuality.

 

Introducing Melle Mel, King described him as “someone who’s part of history in the music industry, someone who has longevity, someone who is one of the pioneers” who kick started hip hop in its early days.

 

For his part, Melle Mel left the crowd with the following message, “This is the only reason why I’m out here talking to y’all because the only thing that’s worth something is y’all. Ain’t nothin’ is worth nothin’. Ain’t nothing but for y’all.”