Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs donate cash and clothing for hurricane victims

Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs have joined together to donate $1 million to the American Red Cross to help victims and refugees of Hurricane Katrina.

As African American men the entrepreneurs could not just sit and watch without lending a helping hand.

"This is one of the saddest days of my life. I can hear the cries of the people in the regions affected by Hurricane Katrina and will do whatever I can to help, these are my people. I urge all our fellow artists and Americans to answer the call," Diddy said. "These are communities that I know, people that I grew up, communities that have always supported me. Now it's my turn to support them"

"This event has devastated hundreds of thousands of people. We, as African American men and leaders of our community felt it was a necessity to join forces and help. Diddy and I are committed to supporting our people in whichever way we can," said Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter.

Both stars have also pledged immediate donations of clothing from the Roc-a-Wear and Sean John clothing collections in order to provide clean, dry clothing to those who have lost everything.

Debra Lee, president and CEO of BET announce at a recent press conference that BET will be holding a telethon from 7:30pm-10pm on September 9, after a special benefit episode of "106 & Park" and the BET Top 10 Live show. Ms. Lee said that celebrities from across musical and entertainment genres will be involved as performers, hosts, presenters and guests.

National Urban League president and CEO, Marc Morial, also a former New Orleans, Louisiana mayor, said the telethon will be an effort to focus the eyes, hearts and minds of the viewers of BET and the nation on the need to contribute money for food, for water and for shelter for the thousands of evacuees. "We now have our own citizens who are refugees in their own country," Mr. Morial stressed.