Hip-hop mogul Simmons urges gang peace

NEW YORK, March 28 (UPI) -- Hip-hop music mogul Russell Simmons returned to his roots in Queens in New York to urge minority youth and warring gangs to stop killing each other.

"For me this is significant because I grew up here," Simmons told a Saturday rally in Queens Village. "Not too far from here, I sold drugs. I've had to change, and I've had leaders show me the way."

The rally was in support of the Peace Keepers Movement, which tries to use mentors to stop violence and encourage youth in tough neighborhoods to avoid lives of crime.

The New York Daily News Sunday said the number of homicides in New York was up 23 percent during the first 11 weeks of 2010, compared to the same period a year earlier. Homicides were 20 percent higher in the borough of Queens and 15 percent higher in Brooklyn.