The Need for Philanthropy: Learning to Fish

Our program doesn't seek charity, it seeks investment in individuals. We seek investment on the front end of lives, rather than the back end. We seek to create and build meaningful lives before the otherwise inevitable pitfalls of ghetto experience derail the progress of our youthful charges. There is far too little of this type of intervention going on today. We need philanthropy to work harder at teaching people to fish rather than to simply give fish. And, yes, this takes money just like conventional charity, but the money works considerably harder because it spurs regeneration and future, sustainable progress.

So far we've only scratched the surface of what is possible with our Hip Hop: Art, Science and Business course. We've done almost immediately what we set out to do, and that is to teach children to create studio quality musical passages using only laptop and desktop computers. In the process we have brought about greater computer literacy among the students. We've increased vocabulary and moreover we've bolstered self-esteem.

But still we need more, so we can do more. We need more space, more equipment, respectable salaries for our highly skilled producer/instructors, and more publicity. I make no apology for that. We need more resources because we fight the battle on the the absolute frontier; the human mind and spirit. That's where we wage a valiant battle against crime, illiteracy, apathy, violence, ignorance and generational poverty.

Ours is the fight for human progress and self-actualization.

Turntable Technique

Fund Raising Mode (continued)