RZA Backs Proposed New York City Fur Ban in Letter to City Council

Rapper Cites New Poll Showing Black Voters Overwhelmingly Support the Bill

For Immediate Release:
May 30, 2019

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Wu-Tang Clan star and New York City native RZA is urging council members to pass a proposed ban on fur as deliberations continue on Bill 1476, which is sponsored by Speaker Corey Johnson. In a letter to Co-Chair of the Black, Latino/a, & Asian Caucus Ydanis Rodriguez and other members of the city council, the musician, who just released a new single and is currently the subject of a docuseries airing on Showtime, Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men, writes, “Those who have expressed that animals must die by the dozens to demonstrate that we have ‘made it’ only show arrogance and represent regressive—not progressive—attitudes.”

RZA has strong ties to the community—he was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, while the Wu-Tang Clan recently had a street named after them on Staten Island, where the group got its start.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.

RZA’s letter to Rodriguez follows:

Dear Council Member Rodriguez,

I am writing to ask that you support Speaker Johnson’s bill to ban fur sales in New York City. I am Brooklyn-born but have had deep ties to all five boroughs since my earliest days with Wu-Tang Clan. Though it may be argued by some that fur used to show elite status in our community because of the inequality we face in society, those days are done. That’s reflected in a poll that shows 77% of black NYC voters support the bill. Those who have expressed that animals must die by the dozens to demonstrate that we have “made it” only show arrogance and represent regressive—not progressive—attitudes. I don’t just say this as an entrepreneur with a line of vegan clothing. Please help NYC move into the future of fashion by becoming a cosponsor of the bill to ban fur sales.

In solidarity,

RZA