Dibinga talks to Fowler HS students

Omekongo Dibinga introduced himself to about 400 Fowler High School students by rapping about what his life could have been and what it is. He mentioned how he could have been a stone cold killer, could have bragged about the number of women he's been with, could have been drenched in diamonds from head to toe, could have told them "school was whack" and they should drop out and rap. He then tells them he never did any of those things. Instead, he never smoked weed, never raped a woman, never hit his wife, and is studying for his PhD.

Dibinga is a motivational speaker, a poet and a rapper. He spoke to students about how he came from a poor family in Boston, Mass., failed the seventh grade and stayed back. But he was able to turn his life around; by the end of high school he was in the National Honors Society.

Dibinga's message to the students was clear: he did it and so can they. He told them to succeed they need to G.R.O.W: give, release, overcome and win.

He spoke to them about the genocide in Congo. He said students in the U.S. might think they have problems, but at least they have a choice in their future. He asked, "when you think about what you're dealing with right now, are you dealing with that? Do you wake up every day with those types of worries? Do you wake up every day right now thinking that someone might make you a child soldier? That someone might come kill your entire family?"

Dibinga told students if they have electronic equipment they might be helping the cause. People in the Congo are being killed because of resources to make electronics. He said people need to know they are connected to the genocide. "It's one thing to say it's just those Africans over there fighting, that's what they do," he said. "But it's still different when you're talking about many of these issues are still happening so we can have electronic equipment."

Dibinga also spoke on a Genocice Awareness panel at Syracuse University today at 5 pm, will speak at Take Back the Night at 7 pm and will be interviewed tonight on a local radio station. His music can be found on itunes or on his website.

**Picture taken from Omekongi Dibinga's website.