'He was at a brink of greatness': Eritrean youth holding vigil for Nipsey Hussle in Winnipeg

A group of Eritrean youth in Winnipeg are organizing a vigil for a slain rapper they've never met.

Nipsey Hussle was fatally shot outside a clothing store he owned in L.A. last week.

Though Hussle didn't have ties to Winnipeg, Hermon Gidey, one of the organizers of the vigil, says he touched the lives of many Eritrean youth. 

"I mean he's done everything that we dream of doing in terms of, you know, graduating, going to school, or finding a way to make our people proud and to help our families and, you know, to make your mom proud," she said.

Hussle, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, was born on Aug. 15, 1985, in the Crenshaw neighbourhood of south Los Angeles. The Eritrean-American was known for his activism and community building skills, and was an advocate for the Eritrean diaspora community.

He earned a Grammy nomination for his major-label debut Victory Lap.

Gidey said the rapper's work ethic and his choice to stay in his south Los Angeles neighbourhood and help give back to his community was hugely inspirational to her and other young people.

"I think it was the motivation," she said.

"It's the fact that he was telling us to keep going and to prosper and to never stop. Keep working hard and I think that in of itself is just such a huge it's it's something that you need — we all need."

Gidey said she found out about Nipsey Hussle's death on social media, and was in "utter shock."

"It took a couple days to even absorb the fact that he was gone. Just because he was at a brink of greatness," she said.

"So to see that being cut short, it was just devastating."

The vigil will take place on the steps of the Manitoba Legislature starting at 6 p.m. Sunday.

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