Gen-14

Multicultural Celebration puts spotlight on diversity

By Kimberly Ross (Contact)
Monday, January 15, 2007

SHASTA LAKE -- Redding rapper Richard Potillor, 31, said his alternative hip-hop group's message is universal: "We just love people."

That idea will come to life Saturday at the fourth annual Multicultural Celebration, when Mien dancers mix with Edelweiss songsters, belly dancers might groove beside bagpipers, and everyone is welcome.

A free lunch will fill plates with homemade tamales and orders of curry, collard greens, acorn dish and egg rolls. From 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., international food, cultural and community booths, and student art projects will be presented.

Potillor's Gen-14 will be one of many diverse groups performing from 1 to 3 p.m., said organizer Lee Macey, 62, of Redding. Others include the Buckeye Elementary School Choir, the Edelweiss German Club, an American Indian singer and a bocce ball demonstration by the Sons of Italy.

Macey said she hopes to have a signer from the NorCal Center on Deafness interpreting.

This year's theme is "Pathways to Respect." Its location in Central Valley High School's cafeteria and



gym is intended to draw more young people to the celebration, Macey said.

"That's the future. We don't want to have just adults running this ... we're hoping that students can be more a part of their communities," she said.

Folklorico dancer Amelia Ward of Redding will perform with the group Alma Latina, which means Latin soul.

The colorful skirts and the flowers and ribbons the women plan to wear in their hair are traditional to the Jalisco area of Mexico, where Ward was born. Her fellow dancers come from Panama, Colombia and Redding
Ward said they dance in part to show young people that there's no reason to camouflage their heritage.

"We're sharing a little bit of our culture. And we're hoping that the kids that are from another culture will see that and be proud of their own culture," she said.

Potillor's gospel-rap group includes five rappers who represent Filipino, American Indian, African-American and Caucasian backgrounds. People who don't normally like rap music hear something unique and positive in their songs, Potillor said.

"We speak destiny. We talk about joy and empowering people," he said.

Reporter Kimberly Ross can be reached at 225-8339 or at kross@redding.com.
- Record Searchlight

"We take what we do very, very seriously. We want to be the best group that has ever existed on the planet. When people say the 'Beatles,' 'Doors,' or the 'Grateful Dead,' we want them to say, GEN-14!" (Brutha Rich).
By their style of clothing and presentation on stage, Gen-14, are true hip-hop rappers. If you watch them more closely, however, when they interact with people in the crowd, each other, or just an average "Joe," you notice there is something supernaturally different about them. Their countenance, words of affirmation, and most importantly, their heart after God, set them apart as revivalists, catalysts, and transformers of the world. "We are called to be a generation apart," Brutha Rich often says, who is a forerunner in Christian hip-hop, one of the most celebrated music genres of our time.
This impressive group out of Redding, California, rightly believes that by tapping into "Third Heaven" (II Corinthians 12 & Revelation 4) with their music, supernatural experiences of God's love and power will truly change this final generation of believers. Their name represents the Body of Christ-everyone who has believed from the New Testament church to the present and beyond!
They refer to themselves as "five giant-slayers!" Rightly so. All uniquely different, they each bring an aspect of ministry and passion to their music. Brutha Rich is the group's fanatical and sociable representative; Demetrius (Surrenda), demonstrates a deeply zealous heart for people; Rob (RAWC), appears quieter, yet is not afraid to show his "realness," through his powerful lyrics; finally, Joe (Soul Cool) and Katrina (K-passion) are a husband-and-wife team that truly display a likeness to Jesus in their paradoxical mixture of humility and courage.
After only being together one year, they first ministered at Bethel Church in April, 2005. The response was absolutely crazy! Everyone stood to their feet yelling at the end of their song, "Not on My Watch." On the front row, Pastor Beni jumped out of her chair, pumping her fist in the air, and Pastor Bill and Pastor Danny stood up with the look of proud fathers.
Bill said, "We want to pray and bless these guys." Suddenly, around 150 of the 300 people there that night came up to the front, jumping over chairs and running up the aisles. Gen-14 was so encircled that they were completely out of sight.

"All of a sudden," Brutha Rich said, "I felt someone stick money in my hand. Then Bill said, 'Yeah, why don't you go ahead and throw money at them.' So, people just started throwing money at us. There were even 6 to 10 year-old kids throwing dollars at us. It just blew me away when I saw the video later on."
Then Bill prayed, "We send them out." This prayer and support from all the leaders at Bethel has been key to their development and growth as a team. They are so dedicated to being in the Body of Christ and being supported by the Body that they have partnered with several church leaders specifically for accountability and direction.
They were asked to minister again at the "Jesus Culture" Youth Conference in July. The air was thick with anticipation as youth from all over the country gathered to receive all that God had to give. Multi-colored lights flashed across the stage and the enthusiastic crowd crammed together at the front of the sanctuary. Gen-14 took their mics and the beat started in an east-Indian xylophonic sound. A chuckle of confidence, and Demetrius, began the potent words from the song, "Not on my Watch" once again:
These secular heads claiming to be hip-hop immortals.
They talkn' about that they got our kids on lock.
Their message unfolded as the song continued . . . Secular rappers and labels have publicized their mission to "lock" this generations' kids on their twisted ideas, morality, and persuasions. Their influence has infiltrated every area of society including clothing, music, video games and sports labels. These "artists" have testified that their music industry has overwhelmed parental values and control. The song is a clear message of opposition to the secular music industry, but it is also a message to the "sleeping giant" in the modern church. Gen-14 testifies:
You think you're immortal, but you are going to die and you will stand in judgment. But there are people rising up that are going to stand on the wall and say, "Not on my watch. You will no longer infect and poison our children." It's very important for parents to understand what is being said about their kids and about them. If you don't do your job, someone is going to do it for you. It's really a wake-up call to parents and children to say, "Listen. You have got to watch what your kids intake. You've got to be the example to your kids." It's also a wake-up call to the church to stand as a watchman at the gates of your city, watching what comes into your city and to release heaven in your city.
The chorus of "Not on My Watch" adamantly states:
They wanna take our kids, NO!
The - Bethel Church

Church reaches out to teens with free hip-hop concerts
By Christy Lochrie (Contact)
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Dan Jones bobbed between cars parked along Market Street on Friday night, holding out a hand-lettered sign that said "Free Hip-Hop Show."

When the traffic light flicked red, the 28-year-old darted into the street, trying to lure more passers-by into a swelling audience at a Gen-14 hip-hop show set up in a used car lot showroom.

"We kinda try to make it like a club," said Jones, who was working at the concert as part of a Bethel Church mission.

Chris Overstreet, 28, hosts the Christian rap shows for Bethel Church in Redding. Overstreet said he hopes to make the shows a monthly offering as a way to connect kids to Christianity.

"The rap side is to bait the kids," said Robert "Rawc" Wigington, a Gen-14 singer whose profile says he grew up surrounded by drugs and witchcraft.

"They come in there and have no idea they're about to get preached



to," said Shannon Shepeard, whose brother and sister play in the band.

Shepeard was outside the show talking with Bethany Bowers, one of those Jones had lured in with his hand-lettered sign.

"I was just driving by," Bowers said, adding that her original Friday night plan was to rent a video. But the Redding woman, who wore a T-shirt that said "You can look, but you can't touch," stopped in to socialize instead.

"Can I have a drag?" Bowers asked Shepeard, who passed along a cigarette.

The women watched as group of skateboarders, also out for the concert, took turns jumping over a sidewalk.

Will Taylor, a 19-year-old with a gangsta swagger, baggy jeans and a miniature meat cleaver hanging from his neck, did tricks on his skateboard and laced his sentences with profanities. Like Jones, Taylor tried luring people into the show. Now he darted between the concert and the outside scene.

Pauline Wilson, mother of 15-year-old Jeff Wilson, who skated with Jones, walked from the family's Placer Street home to the concert. The 38-year-old said she came to the show for the Christian theme and to find her 18-year-old daughter, who moved out the day before.

"So, you guys, it's good to have you here tonight," Overstreet said at the sight of Jeff and Pauline Wilson.

The scene outside of the event can draw a rough crowd, Overstreet said. But they want to reach out anyway. And inside the show, no drugs or alcohol is allowed, he said.

Darin McDonald, a biker with "PRAY HARD" inked onto his knuckles, was one of the cross-armed security guards at the show.

"We're just here to keep the peace, make sure they don't get out of line," McDonald said.

McDonald smiled at a passing drunk who stumbled by the show. But for sober passers-by, McDonald passed out had a fake $1 million bills with religious questions and messages written on them. Someone gave him a similar one some seven years ago, which prompted him to convert to Christianity.

"I needed to change my life," said McDonald, who says he used to be a hard-drinking biker. "I didn't want to go to hell."

Inside the show, strobe lights flashed through machine-created fog. Kids, teens and adults bobbed their heads and danced to Gen-14. Two Bethel Church prophetic painters -- which they say is artwork inspired by God -- splashed canvases with watercolors.

"It's letting the spirit of God move you," said Bill Jett, 61, of Redding. "I paint what the Lord tells me to paint."

Jessica Combs, a 23-year-old Shasta College student who attends Bethel Church, danced with two of her college and church friends.

Dancing and Christian hip-hop lyrics "are a weapon we use to stomp out the enemy," Combs said.

The enemy?

"Satan, man. He's out there trying to kill and destroy," Combs said.

Khali Friedmann, an 11-year-old homeless girl featured in a 2004 Record Searchlight special report, darted in and out of the show with her sister, Cheyenne, 7, and brother, Christopher, 5. Khali, who said she's staying with her parents in a motel, was dancing to the music while babysitting her siblings. Her parents were back at the motel room, she said.

After the two-hour show, Overstreet opened the mike to audience members to rap or read their poetry. His only caveat: Keep it positive.

"They like hip hop -- and the presence of the Lord," Overstreet said.

For more information about Gen-14, including their next free show, visit their site on myspace: myspace.com/generation14.

Currents reporter Christy Lochrie can be reached at 225-8309 or at clochrie@redding.com





- Record Searchlight