The Hip Hop Project

Posted on May 4, 2009 at 3:16 pm

Be sure to watch the amazing documentary The Hip Hop Project tonight and see the extraordinary work by Chris “Kazi” Rolle in encouraging young people to tell their stories. He gives kids who feel invisible a chance to own their experiences, express their frustrations through art instead of violence. I interviewed Kazi a few years ago and was very impressed by his insight and charisma — and by his accomplishments.
Chris “Kazi” Rolle, who founded the program when he was a homeless teenager, told me that he was inspired by “Hoop Dreams.” “A lot of inner city kids see sports as their way out.”
Rolle wanted to give them a chance with something they could do themselves, without relying on anyone outside the community. So he adopted what he calls “the pill in the dog food” approach, “pulling them in with what they like,” hip-hop. His goal is to reach “the kid in the back of the class – he is always scribbling something.” When they arrive, they want to imitate what they have heard. “Young people live from the outside in; TV and radio tell them who they have to be.” But he brings them back to the origins of hip-hop – “it started as political” and encourages them to tell their own stories by listening to them and encouraging them to listen to each other.
The Hip Hop Project at LocateTV.com

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Documentary Music Television

‘Why is it W?’ by the Baby Grands

Posted on March 3, 2009 at 12:00 pm

The Baby Grands make music for children and their families. The songs are singable and lots of fun.

Now they are giving families a chance to make their kids and dogs part of a montage in a new video for their song “Wet Nose Friend,” featured on their myspace page and on their recently released self-titled debut on Backspace Records. Send them video clips of children and dogs by going to You Send It and enter submit@backspacerecords.com in the “To” box and your own email address in the “From” box. Enter the “Subject” as Backspace Records Wet Nose Friend Submission and send in video files no larger than 100MB each. In the “Select A File” box, click the “Browse” button to upload media from your computer. Then click “Send It” to deliver the file. You do not need to check any method of delivery box. Good luck, and if your clip is selected, let me know!

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Early Readers Music Preschoolers Shorts

Girls Rock!

Posted on January 26, 2009 at 8:00 am

B+
Lowest Recommended Age: 4th - 6th Grades
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements and language
Profanity: Some schoolyard language
Alcohol/ Drugs: None
Violence/ Scariness: None
Diversity Issues: A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters: March 7, 2008
Date Released to DVD: January 27, 2009
Amazon.com ASIN: B000FKO3US

As Jack Black explains in School of Rock, rock music is about sticking it to The Man. That takes on a wider meaning when the sticking is coming from young girls. In this documentary about a music camp in Portland, Oregon, where, according to the New York Times’ Jeannette Catsoulis,

100 delirious 8-to-18-year-olds — many of whom have never touched an instrument — are encouraged to make noise and “take up space.” For one earsplitting, consciousness-raising week, they form bands and write songs while watchful counselors — volunteer musicians from bands like Sleater-Kinney and Gossip — provide expertise, mediate meltdowns and reassure the strugglers.

The movie shows how rock music can help girls tell their own stories and discover who they are, free of cultural expectations and limitations. And that they really can rock out!

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Documentary DVD/Blu-Ray Pick of the Week Music
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