LUMUMBA CARSON - MOURNERS GATHER TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF PROFESSOR X

Mourners gathered on Friday (24MAR06) in Brooklyn, New York City, to celebrate the life of late X-CLAN rapper PROFESSOR X. Professor X - real name LUMUMBA CARSON - died earlier this month (17MAR06) after contracting meningitis. He was 49. The funeral service at the Antioch Church was attended by a host of community and religious leaders, as well as hip-hop heavyweights AFRIKA BAMBAATAA and KURTIS BLOW. Reverend GADDY, of the Friendship Baptist Church, told mourners, "He made a difference. There is no doubt in my mind that the angels in Heaven are saying, 'Welcome home. You fought a good fight.'" MC SUPERNATURAL performed an original song which raised the service out of a sombre mood with the lyrics, "Listen close / you know what I mean / Lumumba's still protected by the Red, Black and Green." Blow eulogised, "I know that Lumumba would not have wanted people to be sad. He would not want you to be upset and angry. "(He) believed in Africa and Africans, those at home and those abroad. He believed in Black Power." Professor X was the son of civil rights activist SONNY CARSON, and he also formed the Blackwatch Movement, an activist group that focused on the arts.