The ARK of Saint Sabina co-host music studio with Hip-Hop DetoxX

Life skills program to curb violence

By Chinta Strausberg

The ARK of Saint Sabina in collaboration with Hip-Hop DetoxX Tuesday launched the new DetoxX Talent development/Music Studio Apprenticeship program that ultimately will run for a year, but this Saturday, June 23, 2012, youth between the ages of 13 and 19 can audition for this life skills program aimed at decreasing violence.

At a press conference held at The ARK, 7800 S. Racine, Enoch Muhammad, co-creator and director of Hip-Hop DetoxX, and Jocelyn Jones, executive director of The ARK, explained that this new arts and culture program is aimed at developing the talents in the communities of Auburn-Gresham and Englewood “by giving voice to the youth” while addressing key public, health and safety concerns they hope to extend citywide.

According to Muhammad, the program begin on Monday, June 25, 2012, and will run for seven-weeks on Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s at The ARK from 10 am. to 3 p.m.

“This program is going to focus on not only social emotional critical thinking life skills and a lot of different types of social sciences for young people to learn how to deal with their conflicts and learn how to prevent violence, but they will also learn how to use detox practices to look into culture, music, video games, art and learn how to make better decisions so they won’t be influenced by media, culture and those things their peers might want to influence them with,” said Muhammad.

They will also learn different aspects of music production, sound engineering, how to perform on stage and those who don’t want to be entertainers, this program will help to develop their talents.

Muhammad explained that his Hip-Hop DetoxX program is aimed at removing “poison…. A lot of the poison they are detoxing from are the false ideas, false concepts and behaviors they are involved in due to environment and some things that may have happened to them that caused them trauma and so now they are responding based on that trauma.”

For example, Muhammad said some of these traumatic experiences might include teen pregnancy, criminality and behavior that produce recidivism. “We are looking at those things that cause young people to become violent with themselves and others. All of the things that we look at as dysfunctions, those are the poisons that we’re looking to detox young people from.”

Youth 13 and 19 can sign up to audition 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 23, 2012, at The ARK of Saint Sabina. They can either audition or be interviewed “to put themselves in the process to see if they qualified and become part of the summer session.  We only have a certain number of slots for the summer,” he explained. “Those who are not able to make it for the summer, will be able to keep their names on the list for the fall and winter session.

Pointing to a “Life Guide” hanging on the wall, Muhammad explained, “This is one of the visual aids we use to show what the end goal of the Hip Hop Detox is. We take young people through different processes so that they will be able to see how they can attain what is called a productive life so they will have a peace of mind and opportunities, but they have to know what it looks like and how to get there.”

The first part of this state of the program is to get the youth to be truthful about their present stage in life. Pointing to a myriad of two-way streets that are labeled after life’s problems, Muhammad said the aim is to find out where are the youth on this map. “The first part of the process is to get them to understand that they have to be truthful about where they are” in life.

“Are you traveling down Self-Destructive Way at the moment, or are you on “Ignorant Lane,”or on “Promiscuous Drive,” or “HIV Lane,” or “Hate Street.” “Are you on “Gang Street” or “Drop-out Street.” Muhammad said they must understand there are consequences involved for their making particular choices “whether it is a state or federal penitentiary or you ending up in a cemetery where on your tombstone it’s drug dealer or drug overdose or bully.

“We make it very real to them so they will be able to make a change because all of these represent two-way streets,” said Muhammad. “They don’t have to stay there. They can make a decision to go down ‘Positive Drive’ and go the straight and narrow way or ‘Recovery Road’ so they can get to a productive life,” he said of his visual aid.

In this apprentice program, the students will learn the business aspect of the entertainment industry including sound engineering, music production, vocals, dance, theater, marketing and entrepreneurship, and they learn on the state-of-the-art equipment. The students will also participate in recording opportunities, open mike and musical performances throughout Chicago and in workshops/events where they can learn about industries and markets of their interest. Students will also participate in seminars given by successful industry professionals and participate in TE.A.M./Leadership building processes.

The eligibility requirements are: students must currently have a library card. Students in high school must have a valid high school identification card, and they must have a 2.5 GPA or higher (on a 4.0 scale) after the first full term of participating.

Space is limited and registration is required. Students who are 17 and under must come with a parent or legal guardian to apply. All forms are due on June 23, 2012. For more information, e-mail: hiphopdetoxx@yahoo.com.

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.