Lisa Evers Breaks Down Hot 97’s ‘Push 4 Peace’ Summit

Tomorrow (July 25), Hot 97's fourth annual Push 4 Peace summit takes place at the Brooklyn Borough Hall. Hosted by Hot 97 talk show host and FOX 5 news reporter, Lisa Evers, and Brooklyn Borough Hall president, Eric. L. Adams, the event calls upon the local youth with efforts to minimize violence and crime within the city. Lisa Evers has produced the event annually since its initiation in 2011, deeming it as the staple event for her weekly Hot 97 show, Street Soldiers, which airs every Sunday. XXL got the chance to speak with Lisa regarding the event and she broke it all down for us.

The festivities kick off at one p.m. and will include food, prizes and even job counseling. "We take the show in front of a live audience. We have two parts. We have a pre-show where hip-hop comes out to support the community, and push for peace because a lot of violence has been associated with hip-hop," says Evers. "We have 27 different community and youth groups coming out. A lot of them with alternatives to violence programs and alternatives to incarceration. [Also] programs where they're giving jobs and job training."

The event focuses on impacting local youths and really taking to their concerns, in attempts to break the chains of destruction and demolition within the community. "It's a way for us to really hear what people are saying. It's not about me talking. It's not about officials talking. It's really a way for the youth to get their voices heard and to know that we're listening to them," explains Evers. "The cases with police fatalities and police using excessive force has been a huge issue for our audience."

The topics discussed at the summit will be gangs, guns and broken lives with a special focus on moving beyond violence. Lisa expresses a notable concern on gangs in not just the NY area, but in various cities around the country. "The gang problem in New York City has been growing tremendously over the last five years. It's not like the way people see it in the movies where they're hitting a specific target. There's people getting caught in the crossfire. I was just at a shooting in East Harlem. They're shooting at three o'clock when kids are just getting out of school. It's not just New York. Look at Chicago, look at Miami [and] look at L.A."

According to the founders of the event, it's undeniable that hip-hop has an extreme impact on the youth, so tying the two subjects together is a great initiative in breaking the mold. "We're really getting back to hip-hop's core, which is empowering people," says Lisa Evers. She goes on to point out the recent extremely publicized cases of violence in hip-hop that haven't really helped in pushing forward. "We just saw the case with Lil Wayne, Birdman, and Young Thug. According to prosecutors, that's gang related. Look at Bobby Shmurda. The trouble that he's in, that's gang related. The connection between hip-hop and violence is too tight in some areas according to what people think and it's jeopardizing the art."

However, Evers does share a belief that the art form is striving to bridge the gap. "On the other hand, you see the super successful rappers are on a totally different tip. A song like Big Sean's "Blessings," it's blowing up on the charts. It's got all the things that we love in a hip-hop hit but it also has a message. A message of appreciation."

If you have some things you want to get off your chest and you're in the New York area, be sure to swing by the Push 4 Peace summit tomorrow.