Officer Writes Song to Bring Community Together
A Lafayette Police Officer gets creative to bring attention to racism. He says we're still living in a divided nation.
The officer who goes by the stage name Maurice recently recorded the song "Long Way 2 Go" after seeing hate speech on social media websites. So far, the song has more than four thousand hits on YouTube.
For decades music has inspired Maurice. In high school he started his first band as a student at Norhtside High. After graduating, he joined the military and wrote songs during his free time.
"I just love music in general and I write from the heart," said Maurice.
Racial comments on media Facebook pages, like KATC's page, inspired his song "Long Way 2 Go."
"The first comment I was called was a n*#$! on Facebook. Those types of comments validate the song, it's saying we have a long way to go and it's showing that," said Maurice.
This song came from his heart and soul and is meant to do three things: express, encourage, and unify.
"I wanted to express these are our concerns, this is what we feel like and this is what we think about when someone says this or we are faced with this."
Maurice hopes his song inspires people to come together to break down social and racial barriers.
Maurice has written other songs but hasn't released them. He says he plans to keep his music free of vulgar language, violence and drug abuse.
Chris Welty
cwelty@katctv.com
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