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 fourth year, the BHF has become a staple of Summer in NYC. This year Brooklyn Bodega and F.O.K.U.S. are establishing a new tradition, Brooklyn Hip Hop Family Day. From Noon to 4pm, 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.

The goal of Hip hop Family Day is two fold. One, organizers want to address the epidemic of childhood obesity and the diseases associated with it, plaguing our community. Asthma and diabetes are virtual plagues in Brooklyn and throughout New York City. As cultural programmers, Brooklyn Bodega felt it was their responsibility to use the Brooklyn Hip hop Festival as a platform to address this issue.

Secondly, Family Day is part of the Festival’s mission to return Hip hop to its roots of social activism. Wes Jackson, Festival Executive Director, “Hip hop was created as a tool to quell gang violence in the Bronx. Now to many, Hip hop is synonymous with violence, misogyny, and materialism. That is not the Hip hop culture I live. My Hip hop is about education, self awareness, and empowerment. This is the mission of the Festival as a whole. With Family Day we are once again using Hip hop to save lives. We want the kids to come out for the free magazines, T-shirts, and CD’s. While they’re here we’ll help them control their asthma, screen their mom’s blood sugar, and teach them about Break dancing’s four hundred year old Brazilian pre-cursor, Capoeira.”

On July 12th from 12pm -3pm families will able to participate in team building challenges, creative projects, and cultural trivia. There will also be visual arts, dance & movement demonstrations. Activities will be geared to enhance the mind, body and spirit.

Brooklyn Bodega, and Family Day co-producer, F.O.K.U.S., have done a great job of marrying the two Family Day concepts by bringing together a coalition of community groups as well as local and international brands. Participants include Truth.com and their anti- smoking/tobacco initiative, Metropolitan Hospital who will be offering diabetes and asthma screenings, “Made in NY” Film PA training program, and The Brooklyn Crescents Youth Lacrosse Club. There will also be a KidsZone with various activities to exercise bodies in a fun & creative way.

More Brooklyn Hip hop Family Day participants will be announced soon.

Brooklyn Hip hop Family Day will feature music, free giveaways, great food, dance, art and a whole lot of fun. All are encouraged to stay for the performances which will begin at 4pm from KRS ONE and others.

Brooklyn Hip hop Family Day will take place July 12th, from 12 noon - 4 p.m at Empire Fulton Ferry State Park located at the corner of Plymouth and Main Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

Children, families, teenagers are all welcome.

Performances will begin promptly following Family Day.

For more information please visit www.brooklyn bodega.com

About F.O.K.U.S. F.O.K.U.S. is an organization with the mission of creating a diverse community using the arts as the common medium. We believe the arts enable people to rise above barriers in society and our events unite diverse audiences with various art forms. F.O.K.U.S. aims to bring together art forms, both “traditional” and “non-traditional”, to support the concept that we need to expand our definition of what is considered art because art surrounds us as it is part of life.

Please visit www.onefokus.org

Source:
Thug Life Army