LA SECTA ALLSTAR JOINS HISPANIC COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK’S ANTI-GANG VIOLENCE CAMPAIGN “2 Cooltura Eres Tú”
Group Received the 2006 Billboard Latin Music Awards for
Latin Rock/Alternative Album of the Year
Washington, D.C. – The Hispanic Communications Network (HCN) announced today that one of the top Latin music groups in the country will join HCN’s Anti-Gang Violence mass media social marketing campaign. The campaign, which is funded by the Department of Justice and developed in partnership with the non-profit Self Reliance Foundation, will target Hispanic youth and parents on the issue of gangs and youth violence through public service announcements developed for print, radio and television.
La Secta Allstar’s latest album “Consejo” was selected earlier this month at the Billboard Latin Music Awards as the "Latin Rock/Alternative Album of the Year." The album has spent 17 straight weeks on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums Chart, achieved Gold record status in the U.S. and was nominated for the U.S. Grammy Award. It features the title song “Consejo,” which chronicles the struggles that Latino youth face in avoiding gang culture.
Carlos Alcazar, President of HCN, commented: “In order to help Latino youth escape gang culture, this campaign will speak to them using their own language and culture, which is reflected in the music of La Secta Allstar. We must help them fill the void that gangs are now filling if we are to see our young people escape the violence that comes with gang involvement.”
La Secta Allstar’s involvement will be centered around the music video of “Consejo,” and Spanish-language public service announcements featuring the band members. Parents and young people will also be directed to the website for the campaign: www.2cooltura.com , which will include online chat rooms, youth-friendly resource directories, and a parent’s corner for teachers, counselors, community activists and parents on how to talk to youth about this issue. A toll-free hotline will also be established for parents and youth.
In 1998, the last year for which complete OJJDP data is available, 49 percent of gang members were Hispanic. An estimated 24,500 gangs exist, encompassing 772,500 gang members active in more than 3,330 jurisdictions across the U.S., according to the National Youth Gang Survey Report from 2000.
About the Hispanic Communications Network (www.hcnmedia.com)
The Hispanic Communications Network (HCN) is the largest educational and informational media company targeting U.S. Hispanics. Utilizing an existing radio network, in 2005, HCN expanded into television, publishing and the web. The company has over 200 radio affiliates across the U.S., reaching an audience of 616,500 active listeners per average quarter hour (AQH), and a weekly cume of over 4.7 million. HCN's newspaper columns are distributed to over 100 Spanish-language newspapers with a weekly circulation of more than 4.3 million. HCN also produces customized, fully-integrated media campaigns for major government agencies, private foundations, corporate clients, public relations and advertising agencies. HCN’s educational campaigns strategically combine media and community outreach to inform and spur audiences to action in collaboration with its partner non-profit, the Self-Reliance Foundation.
