Friday, October 10, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
You Could Hear a Pin Drop
The latest class on Wednesday July 30 was a breakthrough session. 10 students showed up and it was the most quiet and effective session we have ever had. The children came into the class and immediately set themselves up at the available workstations and began to work on beats and compositions. Very few words were spoken. The class was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. All that was audible was the faint, tinny traces of music that emanated from the kids blaring headphones.
Faces were fixed and focused. Meaningful activity and accomplishment permeated the room. It was a sight to behold; a true breakthrough for our class. No horseplay, no mindless chatter, no hormone-driven flirtation, just focused, concentrated digital music production.
From that I realized that we are making a difference. We are making true progress. I was proud beyond measure. And despite our meager resources and our dwindling grant opportunities I knew that we were succeeding in what we set out to do. To make music producers out of "ordinary" kids.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
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.