Hip Hop and Positive Change

When a group of young men in their 20s, new to the nonprofit scene, proposed starting a program for youth in Cincinnati’s inner-city neighborhoods, former GCF staff member Kristy Moster was both impressed and concerned. Concerned because the plan Gavin Leonard and brothers Islord and Life Allah proposed was to create a center for Hip Hop culture as an alternative to violence. Not your typical GCF grant request.

Kristy said she didn’t know much about Hip Hop and wondered how GCF’s grant review committee would respond. But she was impressed with the research the three young men, all residents of Over-the-Rhine, had done. After Cincinnati’s 2001 race riots, they asked youth in Over-the-Rhine and the West End area what they wanted and how to make a positive change.

“They were good about acknowledging that this could be threatening to people and that in some cases Hip Hop is a very negative medium,” Kristy said. “But they said, ‘We’re meeting youth where they are, this is their lifestyle, this is their culture, this is what they are interested in and if you teach them to turn it into a positive you have your hook.’ The whole point of the program is not to teach people to become Hip Hop artists – but to get the youth in the door and have them do positive things and learn and grow.”

Kristy was encouraged and said their plan was better than many established organizations’. GCF’s grant review committee was convinced and took a leap of faith and Elementz: the Hip Hop Youth Arts Center received a grant. Getting Elementz started wasn’t easy; it was operating with a volunteer staff in a basement space with little money. Kristy said they were also working to prove the potential of area youth.

“A lot of these young people are rough around the edges – some have been in trouble with the law,” she said.  “Everyone said, ‘Aren’t there going to be fights, how do you know drugs won’t be brought in or drugs sold outside?’

“People expected there would be a lot of problems and there just haven’t been,” she added. “I think that’s because of the way they set it up. They tell the youth, ‘You wanted this and you either respect it or you don’t. This can go away if you don’t treat it with respect. ’”

Not only is Elementz still around four years later — it’s thriving. It has a paid staff and offers programs in Hip Hop dance, DJing, graffiti art and recording/production. Eighty percent of participating youth, ages 14-24, attend programs all three days Elementz is open. New programs focused on leadership and entrepreneurship are being developed.

“A symbol of their progress is that it used to be when you went into Elementz, you went to the side of a building to a door next to a loading dock, with no sign on it,” Kristy said. “You felt like you were breaking in. Now there is a sign above the front door on Central Parkway. You go in and they have two or three floors of the building. Just that switch was symbolic.”

Kristy shared that a local youth said he goes to Elementz because it makes him feel both respected and safe. “Some of these youth haven’t been in a structured, positive environment for a long time,” she said. “It’s pretty amazing what they’ve been able to do.”

Read more about Elementz.