Hip-hop and the power to heal

Boys & Girls Club brings educational program to Denver youth

By Celia Herrera
cherre12@mscd.edu

While A&R reps are busy conjuring up the next ghetto persona for urban (and not so urban) America to fall obsessively in love with, youth advocates are playing their role in a counter-attack on the negative impact these marketing strategies will have on a much younger generation.

Mario Romero, founder of Denver-based promotional company MestiSoul Entertainment, decided it was time to become involved in an educational approach to the culture everyone was latching onto-hip-hop. He found an unlikely partnership that has since united the culture of hip-hop with the community-based vision of a corporate CEO.

Words Can Heal, founded by Global Capital Associates CEO Irwin Katsof, is a national media and educational campaign designed to reduce verbal violence. After its introduction into the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, Romero started working with BGCMD and WCH Coordinator Tonja Mitchell. Through WCH, both Romero and Mitchell have made it possible for hip-hop to play a major role in sharing a positive vision.

"Through my involvement with the WCH program, I have had the opportunity to see teens and other members grow with the program. They have been very excited about performing in the assemblies and facilitating WCH workshops in the community. More importantly, they have learned about the WCH message and been able to share that message with thousands of youth, teens and adults," said Mitchell.

Applying his years of entertainment experience, Romero has developed the WCH program into an impressive assembly performance. With the help of a community coalition, BGCMD has developed a classroom curriculum to accompany the assembly, making for a useful experience for its young audience.

At the show, the stage is set with the appearance of a high school hallway and large signs with phrases like "Stop Dissing, Start Accepting" and "Gossip Free Zone" hang from small scaffolds. Denver hip-hop pioneer, Scratch G deejays from the rear of the stage while Pierre McNair, who is also the show's director, plays the role of the witty school janitor and narrator.

Alongside McNair, the cast is comprised of nine highly talented youth. Akil LuQman, 16, a student from Denver School of the Arts plays the role of "Kyle" who is the outcast nerd desperately seeking acceptance from his peers. BreOnna Tindall, 14, has been with the Boys & Girls Clubs since she was just 7 years old and has been performing in the WCH assembly for the past year. "I thought (the show) had a good message and wanted to be part of spreading the word," states Tindall.

The storyline is predictable, but the follow-up work separates this effort from many other attempts at utilizing popular culture as a medium for education. As the performance ends, McNair engages the young crowd in a dialogue responding to certain scenes. This dialogue is then taken a step further when the contents of the show are integrated into the schools of the participants as part of a 12-week curriculum. WCH presents a truly thorough effort in hopes that the message of the program can impact its young audience with a lasting effect.

Satia, 6, was a member of the audience at a recent showing of WCH. She and her classmates from Carson Elementary's Kaleidoscope Corner program were among roughly 100 other kids to attend the show. "It was fabulous," said the first grader. "I saw the big kids thought that Kyle had funny clothes and everyone made fun of his poems. If you see someone getting teased or bullied you have to tell the teacher if it doesn't stop, or you have to help the other kid." Three weeks into the WCH curriculum, Satia says the program has helped her at school. "One day when we were going outside, this girl teased me because she thought that my hair was frazzled up all the time. I told her to be respectful to others because it's not very nice to tease."

Through his partnership with the BGCMD, Romero has presented a new perspective for inner-city kids who have already inherited the hip-hop culture and way of life from their family and peers. From the young performers to an even younger audience, the positive effects of this program are leading into a new era of education and entertainment that hip-hop leader KRS ONE has appropriately coined "Edutainment."

For more information on "Words Can Heal," contact Tonja Mitchell at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, 303-892-9200 extension 111, or e-mail tonjam@bgcmd.org.