Hip-hop says no to 'ho'

April 24, 2007 Russell Simmons and Benjamin Chavis, leaders of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, said Monday that the recording and broadcast industries should voluntarily censor the "misogynistic" words "bitch" and "ho" and the "racially offensive" N-word from future recordings. The move comes in the wake of radio host Don Imus' firing over insensitive comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. Many activists in the black community have since turned their attention to rap lyrics and begun to question what steps the music industry should take to police itself.

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