One of the things I love about New York City’s underground hip-hop scene is that it extends beyond music and into community. In fact, most of the local hip-hop artists I know are teachers, educators, mentors or involved in the community in some form or fashion. This is best illustrated through Urban Art Beat, a music and art based workshop directed at under-served youth in NYC. Above is a video about Urban Art Beat.

I really love what Wise Intelligent is doing with his Intelligent Seedz – a Trenton, NJ based organization that focuses on helping at-risk youth express themselves through art and film. Get The Lead Out is a song from Intelligent Seedz’ upcoming documentary, “Dying to Learn,” which examines the effects of lead on inner city children.

Dallas, TX – Healthcare remains a critical national issue yet first it is a personal one that requires an individual to be proactive. This July that issue of being proactive takes center stage as Rickey Smiley, Mayor Pro-Tem Dwaine Caraway, KBFB 97.9 The Beat, The City of Dallas and The MLK, Jr. Family Clinic launch their awareness initiative throughout the Metroplex with an annual event to educate the community on the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. The Second Annual Hip Hop for HIV concert will take place on July 12 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Palladium Ballroom.

Knowing your status and “testing for tickets” is the core initiative of this annual event specifically for the age group between 15 to 30 years of age. “Testing for tickets” allows those tested to know their status, be further educated on the disease and more importantly better informed on the social and medical services available to treat those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS locally, regionally and nationally.

Testing sites will be designated throughout the DFW Metroplex as Rickey Smiley, Mayor Pro-Tem Dwaine Caraway, KBFB 97.9 The Beat, The City of Dallas and the MLK, Jr. Family Clinic will collaborate with several community based organizations to begin confidential testing from June 12, 2009 to July 10, 2009. Anyone tested will receive One FREE Ticket to gain entry into the concert.

More than 1.2 million people live with HIV/AIDS and the most impact continues to be prevalent in the African American and Hispanic communities. In the third quarter of 2008, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Dallas reported 402 new HIV cases and 366 new AIDS cases with 43% African American and 29% Hispanic. Globally more than 16 million people have died of AIDS and more than 16,000 people become newly infected each day.

The concert will feature international, national and local Hip Hop artists. During their performances these artists will further facilitate on the importance of being proactive, knowing your status and maintaining a healthier lifestyle.

For additional information contact Stephen Red Delasbour or Stephanie Nash @ 972-331-5400 or Log on to www.979thebeat.com.

Source:
Pegasus News

Greenbrier, AR – High energy. Dancing. Hip-hop music. Teachers getting cream pie in the face. Students driving dragster race cars. Not the usual way to learn science by any stretch of the imagination but certainly a very effective way.

Sixth-grade science teachers Paul VanEvera and Debbie Moreland brought a hip-hop science concert to Greenbrier High School for a unique learning experience for sixth- through ninth-grade students. In two 45 minute programs, Middle School children traveled to the high school to be a part of and learn from an award winning hip hop science education concert. About 700 students attended both concerts.

Eric Olson of Orlando, Katie Adler of Philadelphia and JJ Hopson of New York were the three young, professional actors on-stage who directed the learning in this program called FMA Live. Hip-hop music was so loud with words that only a young ear could understand that it turned on both audiences and had them cheering at every new thing learned.

High energy dancing that would have left one breathless was no problem for these young people. They were selected from thousands of auditions, nationwide, to do two 12-week tours of the United States, reaching about 17,000 students on each tour, and have been doing this for the past three years. Each tour covers about 20 cities. Greenbrier was added to the list because of the perseverance of VanEvera and Moreland. Teachers and children from each audience were selected to help the stars on-stage who certainly knew their subject and how to get it across.

Olson said, “If our show was in every school classroom every day, it would be every kid’s best subject.”

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Honeywell partnered in 2003 to create FMA Live! and address key learning objectives identified by the National Science Education Standards. They recognized the need for future engineers and scientists and wanted to increase student interest and participation in the sciences. Designed to make science relevant to kids’ everyday lives, the program brings an authentic, live, hip-hop concert experience of unprecedented size and proportion to middle schools across the country. So far, the 10-person cast and crew has already traveled more than 63,263 miles covering 43 states and Canada, reaching more than 200,060 students at over 593 middle schools. This is fully funded by Honeywell with absolutely no cost to the schools.

FMA Live! was named for Sir Isaac Newton’s second law of motion (force + mass x acceleration). Newton’s three laws of motion and universal law of gravity were taught with music videos on a huge screen interspersed with live interactive science demonstrations to prove the points. Students Grant Webb, Ryan McKnight, Nick Baker and James Ward helped demonstrate inertia by opening the program stuck to a giant sticky wall. They took running leaps at the wall to see how high they could stick to the wall with their giant Velcro suits.

Go-carts were raced across the stage by Anna Cone, Marissa Hollenbaugh, Courtney Phillips and Sarah Thompson to illustrate action and reaction. The audience was divided into two sections to cheer on their favorite go-cart.

“Extreme” wrestling was one of the most fun events because it featured two teachers at each show dressed up in huge overstuffed “bumping” suits and they tried to knock each other down until one fell. The teachers were cheered on by their respective sides of the auditorium as they rushed at each other in great fun. Tami Burcham, sixth-grade math teacher, and Melissa Baker, para-professional teacher, were from the Middle School and Tommy Hunt, math teacher, and Johnny Passmore, student teacher, competed for the higher grades show.

A soccer ball that grew from regulation size to a six foot round ball showed force determined by mass multiplied by acceleration. Kenzie Wiedower and Kelly Gamelin were coached to kick the various size balls to illustrate the point as the audience cheered them on.

All three of Newton’s laws were demonstrated simultaneously when a futuristic hover chair collided with a gigantic cream pie in the face one for each Coach Tim McKelvey and Coach Blake Benton. Although the kids cheered and screamed loudly, the point of the scientific law of gravity was made really memorable.

Moreland’s sixth-grade science class was very enthusiastic afterward saying things like, “…deafening, but exciting. I thought the go-karts were really cool. I loved the dancing and singing.” They “loved how the pie-in-the-face showed action/reaction.” VanEvera said, “The kids learned a lot more than we could teach them in the classroom by just talking about it.”

Moreland and VanEvera said the program was perfect timing because they had just finished studying force in motion the past couple weeks. They commented, “Not only is this a great introduction for our sixth-graders; but it is wonderful reinforcement for seventh- and eighth-grade students.” Moreland said, “It’s great that this was a free program and will reinforce what they learn. The next time they see someone kick a soccer ball or something fun like this, they will remember Newton’s laws better.” The two teachers had been collaborating on bringing this program to Greenbrier since last Christmas when they found them online at www.fmalive.com.

Source:
Log Cabin Democrat

Brooklyn, NY – The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival is an annual event celebrating Hip Hop Culture and the borough of Brooklyn as a premier cultural destination. Now entering its fifth year, the BHF has become a staple of Summer in NYC.

This year Brooklyn Bodega and F.O.K.U.S. reunite to produce, Brooklyn Hip Hop Family Day. On June 20th, 2009, babies, toddlers, young teens and families are encouraged to head down to beautiful Empire Fulton Ferry State Park for an afternoon of Hip-Hop, community building, and fun.

Family Day will take the main stage from 12 p.m to 4 p.m. From 4p.m. to 8p.m. Family Day will move to the North Lawn of Empire Fulton Ferry State Park while the main performances round out the day.

Children, families, teenagers, and kids are all welcome all day to this all ages event.

——

Family Day will feature music, performances, demonstrations, and seminars from a host of organizations including Black Girls Rock, Metropolitan Hospital, The Beacon Program, The League of Young Voters, CityYear, Brooklyn Crescents Youth Lacrosse Team, and SohNup Industries NYC to name a few. More organizations will be confirmed as the event approaches.

The mission of Family Day is to provide positive and inspiring programming for an often forgotten demographic, what organizers call Hip-Hop Families.

Wes Jackson, Festival Executive Director and President of Brooklyn Bodega, “Now that Hip-Hop is over thirty years old there are Moms and Dads who grew up on Rakim and Slick Rick. ‘My Melody’ and ‘Children’s Story’ are our classics. We were the original B-Boys and B-Girls. Now we are homeowners, car owners, taxpayers, business owners, and parents. We grew up with Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder as our soundtrack. Now, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Mary J. Blige are the songs my kids hear around the house. We are a Hip-Hop Family. What is happening to Hip-Hop now is what happened to Rock-N-Roll in the 80′s. As the baby boomers aged, so did Rock N Roll culture and business. The same maturation is happening in Hip-Hop. Brooklyn Bodega, Family Day and the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival, as a whole, is about ushering this new era. Family Day is our direct appeal to this growing segment of the Hip-Hop population.”

Source:
Hip-Hop Press

Tacoma, WA – From an open doorway on Tacoma’s Pacific Avenue comes an insistent hip-hop beat. In the darkened interior of the club, a circle of teenagers watches as each takes a breakdancing solo. In other rooms kids are sketching, spinning turntables and listening to headphones with a fierce focus. It’s all part of a Saturday morning L.I.F.E. class, run by local hip-hop organization Fab-5 – and for some of these teenagers, it’s turning their lives around.

With the L.I.F.E. classes, “we realized we could create a movement. Hip-hop has the power to move people into one positive direction,” says Jason Hulen, 30. Along with some friends from Pacific Lutheran University, Hulen started Fab-5 back in 2000 as an organization committed to holding positive drug- and alcohol-free hip-hop events for Tacoma youth. Realizing Fab-5 needed to give more attention to education, members began teaching in Metro Parks’ SPARX after-school program – and then Hulen got the idea for the L.I.F.E. classes.

Starting with just four weeks in spring 2005, the L.I.F.E. classes aimed at helping youth achieve skills and self-expression through all hip-hop art forms: breakdancing, legal graffiti, DJing and music recording, with lunch provided. Since then, the program has expanded with funding from major local foundations to its present 10-week format running April through June. Executive director Eddie Sumlin, 23, would like to see it run year-round.

“It’s more than just us being here doing music and art,” says Sumlin, who has worked at L.I.F.E. since the beginning. “It’s about mentoring, helping kids make healthy life decisions.” Sumlin also works as a college prep associate for the Northwest Leadership Foundation, and steers the L.I.F.E. students toward that goal.

And the evidence is that the classes work. Of the 15 paid instructors, some are former students, now professionals in their art form. Many are college-bound. Others credit L.I.F.E. for turning their lives around.

“I think it’s great,” says Mangley Ben, 18, a Bellevue College student who was introduced to the classes through a Fab-5 instructor while he attended McIlveigh Middle School. He now helps out in the breakdance classes. “If I didn’t go to this program I’d be in a really bad place now. It’s more than just dancing, it’s a life saver.”

The L.I.F.E. classes happen every Saturday at downtown dance venue Brick City. Youth from 8 to 24 years are grouped according to age and ability. Around 30 attend per day, so the teacher-student ratio is high. In separate rooms, each art form is taught with all equipment provided – this in itself is a huge opportunity. In the sound production room, the basics of layering on drum beats, turntable scratchings and vocals are seen through to a final CD product – skills that can lead to professional jobs. In the art room, students learn typography, design and drawing skills, and eventually get to practice with paint on an outside wall.

They’re also taught the legalities and ethical issues surrounding graffiti.

“This isn’t for the streets,” says Sumlin. “You’re not going to be out there tagging. We teach that if you’re focused, you can bring this into a gallery or get a mural commissioned, like our instructors have done. Or you can get into graphic design.”

And at L.I.F.E. classes, kids can also get some life skills.

“Students that have skill in dancing can compete,” says instructor Ash Cornette, 25. “There’s opportunity for travel, for networking, for social skills. That’s something that a lot of kids don’t have these days, with all the passive online talking they do.”

It’s a rare chance for youth from all backgrounds, ethnicities and localities to interact: Students come from all over the city and even Seattle’s Eastside, saying there’s nothing like it anywhere else.

And it’s just plain fun. Emahni Lavergne, 14, is one of three girls in the breakdance class on a recent day, and as she finishes up a solo, she’s smiling shyly. “I like it, I’m soaking it in. It’s friendly, they encourage you and help you out,” Emahni says.\

The final component, says Sumlin, is teaching the students how to plan a community event through an end-of-session performance that gives students skills in identifying local needs, booking venues and event organization.

“We try to teach them that it’s not just about them and art,” Sumlin explains. “It’s about serving the community.”

Source:
The Olympian

Northfield, MN – St. Olaf student Andrew Wilson ’11 has been named a Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation Scholar for 2009-10 and 2010-11. Wilson was one of only six private college students selected this year to receive the $15,650 scholarship that he will use to launch a community outreach project titled “Hip-Hop Anonymous.”  

Celebrating its 15th year, the Phillips Scholars Program recognizes and rewards outstanding Minnesota private college students who strive to make life better for Minnesotans with unmet needs through community service efforts. The program supports potential leaders with outstanding academic credentials who intend to dedicate a portion of their lives to community service. St. Olaf is one of 16 private colleges and universities whose students are eligible for the annual award, which is administered through the Minnesota Private College Council.

Wilson, a Northfield native, plans to create a new branch of the Northfield Union of Youth, known locally as The Key, that will use four elements of hip-hop culture — MCs, DJs, breakdancing and graffiti art — to provide Northfield youth with a chance to demonstrate their individuality in a community-approved way. “Hip-Hop Anonymous” will build on The Key’s mission to “provide power and voice to area youth and create a caring community,” says Wilson, who currently is studying in Australia.

Wilson hopes that his new program will help bolster positive opinions of Northfield youth. “We are as assertive and creative as ever and are just striving for a way to express it. Hip-Hop Anonymous will be that expression.” Wilson is planning to host free, public events at the Key once his project starts next academic year, including a “large-scale” event at the end of summer 2010 that he hopes will feature breakdancing demonstrations, graffiti art displays and spoken word/slam poetry/rap performances.

Source:
St. Olaf College News

After a chance meeting, Penrod and local hip-hop artist Hush came up with the idea of a concert to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Penrod hopes to sell 2,200 tickets to the Feb. 5 show at downtown Detroit’s Fillmore Theatre. In addition to Hush, the benefit will feature rhythm and blues band Hot Sauce and Southern rocker JoCaine.

All the performers collaborated on a new song specifically for Joseph, “Keep on Believing,” that has become the family’s battle cry.

“They and the song are my voice,” Penrod says.

Joseph, 6, is a sweet-natured kid who is learning how to play the electric guitar, and who enjoys playing with his brother, Sam, 9, sister Katie, 12, and Charlie, a huge golden retriever.

Doctors suspected that Joseph had muscular dystrophy when they saw how he pushed on his thighs with his hands to rise from a seated position. It’s a classic manifestation of MD, which impairs the ability of muscles to repair themselves. Blood and genetic tests confirmed that he had a variation of the disease known as Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

“We tell people if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t know,” about Joseph’s condition, Penrod says.

“You don’t get to pick what you’re handed, but you do certainly get to choose how you handle it. Everything they handed us was about the history and the past of the disease. We’re going to make Joseph the future of it. We’re going to change the future of what this disease looks like.”

Joseph understands that his muscles don’t work quite the way they should. “We hope to move this along in terms of research and a cure, so he doesn’t really have to know,” Penrod says.

Every night Penrod and husband Jeff guide Joseph through stretches to inhibit scar tissue that could build up in his hip, thighs and calves.

She met Hush at an autism benefit, and was touched by his eagerness to contribute. She marvels that the musicians were willing to sit down with her and help her think big.

“It’s an eye-opener to know that you’re looking at a child, and he’s just a baby, and you know some point in his life, it’s going to get hard,” said Hush, himself the father of three boys.

The benefit is an all-ages show. “We’re encouraging people to bring their kids,” Penrod says. “Everybody wants to be part of something bigger than themselves. This is allowing the best in people to come out.”

Source:
FreeP.com

Through his fun lyrics and energetic dance moves, Holland was able to incorporate preschool state standards into his program.

“Some stuff doesn’t change, but I’m always adding new material,” he said. “Over the years, I’ve added math and character education to the show. Hip hop has really taken over the music industry, and it’s a great way to get some of educational information into their heads.”

Holland said the beat and rhythm of rap music is great for learning.

“I had kids coming into school who didn’t know their addition and subtraction, but they’d hear a rap song once and know every word,” he said. “I hope this will help them see that learning can be fun.”

Holland started right in with a song.

“I’m askin’ you to wave your hands in the air like you just don’t care,” he said. “We’re gonna learn our ABC’s and practice our 123′s! Throw your hands in the air and open your mouth and say, ‘Oh yeah!’ ”

“Oh yeah!” students and teachers shouted back.

“Are you smart out there?” he asked them. “Do you know your ABC’s? I want you to sing it for me.”

After a round of the traditional version, Holland kicked it up a notch by having them add stomps and an edgier tone to the song.

Students laughed as Holland, who held a deck of ABC cards in his hand, tossed the appropriate card in the air as he called it out.

When the song was through, Holland taught them a song they would use after each new lesson.

“I want you to, ‘Pat, pat, pat on your back, back, back, for a job well done. Toot! Toot!’ ” he said.

School Director Yvette Givand said special programs like Thursday’s are brought to the school every month.

“We like to have live performances to teach readiness skills,” she said. “We want to expand on their classroom knowledge, and these are fun ways to help them remember what they’ve been taught. This is neat because everyone here can participate, and (they) don’t have to worry about feeling like they didn’t do it right.”

Givand said Holland has been recognized on the state and national level for his unique approach to education.

“I think he’s awesome,” she said. “He understands kids and how they develop. They seem to be able to retain more when their lessons are presented through hip hop. In today’s world, we’ve always got to be thinking outside the box — especially when it comes to education.”

Holland also taught the children about the four seasons.

“It’s so cool,” said Makenzee Webb, 5. “I like rap music. I like to sing and stuff.”

“It’s cool,” said Edwin White, 5.

“He just loves it,” Webb said. “He was dancing. I saw him.”

Parent Amanda Hudson smiled from the sidelines as she watched the program.

“This looks awesome, and he’s really got the attention of the kids,” she said. “I never thought of rap with kids, but you can never rule anything out when it deals with education.”

Teacher Bricia Huckleberry said she appreciated the program on a number of levels.

“First I think it’s neat that the kids are being exposed to a difficult type of music,” she said. “Also, this is a great way for them to learn their numbers and shapes. It’s good for them to get up and moving, too. I’d say it’s probably one of the best programs that’s been brought into our school.”

A second music culture was exposed at the conclusion of the program.

“Can you say, ‘Ah, ah, ah, ah, I did a good job. I did a good job,’ ” Holland sang to the tune of the Bee Gees’ song, “Stayin’ Alive.”

“It was fun,” said Nakyriah Williams, 4. “I like his singing.”

Source:
Mansfield News Journal

My bad, the scavengers at CBS News are going to make you watch an ad first.