Wear Orange Partners with Street-Level Youth Media to Sponsor First-Ever “Voices of Orange” Talent Competition
2.16.2016
“Wear Orange” Inspired by Bold and Creative Chicago Teens Who Refused to be Silent in the Face of Daily Gun Violence; Competition as Avenue for Others to Raise Voices; VoicesOfOrange.org
Entries Due by April 4; Grand Prize Includes $3,000, Opportunity to Perform at the Chicago Party for Peace for National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2, 2016
CHICAGO – As part of the build up to the second annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2, 2016, Wear Orange is partnering with Street-Level Youth Media to sponsor the first-ever “Voices of Orange” talent competition. On January 29, 2013, Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago high school student, was shot to death. To help honor her life, Hadiya’s friends chose to wear orange – the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others. On June 2, 2015, which would have been Hadiya’s 18th birthday, a massive coalition came together to wear orange for the first-ever National Gun Violence Awareness Day to honor Hadiya’s life, the lives of the 88 Americans who are shot and killed every day and the hundreds more injured due to gun violence. The #WearingOrange message, which was shared by President Obama, MTV, BJ the Chicago Kid, Motown Records, Russell Simmons, the New York Mets and thousands of others, reached 220 million people in just one day.
Wear Orange was inspired by bold and creative Chicago teens who refused to be silent in the face of daily gun violence. From song, to rap, to spoken word, the “Voices of Orange” talent competition is a way for other Chicago teens to add their voices to the effort to reduce gun violence in this country.
Entries will be accepted starting today through April 4, 2016. Special consideration will be given to submissions about peace, nonviolence or reducing gun violence. The winning prize is $3,000, the chance to have submissions seen by Grammy-nominated artist and “Voices of Orange” celebrity judge, Andra Day, and the opportunity to perform for a huge crowd that will include major record label executives at the Chicago Party for Peace on National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2, 2016. More information about the competition and entry requirements is available at VoicesOfOrange.org.