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Tomorrow in Belmopan, over 100 youths from across the country will gather at the George Price Centre for Peace and Development to talk about conflict resolution. But it’s not just another talk shop, organizers say that the youths from varied backgrounds and social groups will discuss violence and its effect on their communities while also coming up with proposals for systems of settling disputes before they flare up into armed conflict.

Jamaican Violence Anthropologist Dr. Herbert Gayle will lead the session and integrate the findings into the Male Social Participation and Violence in Urban Belize Research which is currently underway. And what does all that have to do with a globe trotting American rapper who is in Belize?

A whole lot if that rapper is George Martinez known as "RITHM". He’s an award-winning artist, activist, educator and a motivational hip hop performance artist and founder of the Global Block Foundation. And now he’s here for a peace concert that will follow the youth symposium. He told us about himself and his message.

George Martinez, “Rithm”
“As an Ambassador of hip-hop for USA and also a professor of political science, I know first hand how the power of our community, our culture, our art can be combined with making positive resolutions and developments in our community. This is the tip of the iceberg of a movement; community development, personal sustainability, and conflict resolution. The major goal of this weekend is to share with the youths that they are not alone in the world, hope matters and exists, and with your talent and your creativity you can build a better tomorrow.

The hip-hop story is that right here in the streets, this could be transformed into a concert hall, into a dance studio where young people can share and learn. So this weekend is an opportunity to share some of those experiences but taking out of the place where it is uplifting. I might say things that are reflected in my community and some of those things might seem aggressive and real in terms of the harsh realities of our community. But the overall message for young people is use your voice, whatever you have to say say it, put it together, and create a space for yourself.”

Nyasha Laing, NICH
“He’s been able to even in his own life story make amazing strides. He is a college professor, he is a US Cultural Envoy and so he connects with different audiences wherever he goes, he is able to cross lines culturally and I think that’s an experience that comes from living in a city like New York and even in his own personal life I think he will tell you he has connections to Belize.”

Apart from working as a US Cultural Envoy/ Hip-Hop Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State, Martinez has a Belizean wife back in New York. The open air peace concert starts at 3:30 tomorrow at the Independence Park in Belmopan.