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Common unites hundreds in Stockton for Imagine Justice concert

Artist and activist Common hosted a free community concert for the City of Stockton, Friday night. The message behind the concert is to "Imagine Justice."

STOCKTON, Calif. — Hundreds of people gathered at Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium for the “Imagine Justice” concert put on by artist and activist Common.

Many organizations showed up, all uniting over the desire for equality and justice.

“A lot of times people are dealing with despair,” said Rachel Thompson, Fathers and Families of San Joaquin. “They’re dealing with the self-doubt that families are struggling.”

“We wanna bring up the issues like, ‘Hey, we’re going through the same issues everybody else is going through,” said Nikki Chan, with Empowering Marginalized Asian Communities. “We have gang violence. We’re getting affected by guns. We have youth getting locked up. We’re getting deported!”

Many of them describe justice differently within their own communities.

“What does justice look like to you?” Chan asked. “Is it access to healthy foods? Is it access to quality water? It’s what you look at what justice could be.”

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Chan said they are fighting to raise awareness on the issues Asian Pacific Islanders face.

“People think of deportation, they think of the Hispanic community,” Chan said. “When it’s violence, they don’t think of us in the conversation.”

The message continued inside the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium. Several community partners teamed up for the event, including Fathers and Families of San Joaquin, Stockton Scholars, City of Stockton’s Office of Violence Prevention, Advance Peace, Rise Stockton and With Our Words, Inc.

“It actually boosts the morale of Stockton,” Thompson said. “We’ve been going through a lot lately, especially with the violence that’s been happening in the city.”

“I appreciate Common coming out and especially Stockton,” Chan said. “When people hear Stockton, they’re like, ‘Ooh Stockton?’ But no, he decided to come out and come represent our community and make sure we get Stockton on the map.”

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