B Boying in particular plays a significant role in the HtH curriculum. His exposure to a Hip Hop which is positive, social justice focused and transformative has shown him the possibilities which exist when a person is self empowered through shared knowledge. It's in this space, providing "knowledge of self", coupled with creative skills, that HtH has been most usefulĮmile's experience as a teacher, has shown him both the positive aspects of education and the gaps in the system that lead young people to be ill equipped for the day to day life they face. There is little in the form of after hour activities, and the school curriculum itself lacks key aspects necessary to build resilience. With parents forced to commute long distances for work, they are often unsupervised. HtH has focused primarily, on an aspect of the unequal divide - working with young people in the Cape Flats, the area where people of colour were forcibly removed during Apartheid and which has been plagued by poverty, unemployment, gangsterism, drugs and violence. It has also looked at the myriad of flows that have conspired to further and to limit the city in terms of cultural development. Its work has its roots in Black Noise's tours in libraries in poor areas, when Emile began to recognize the huge challenges facing young people from these areas and began doing workshops.Ī series of articles on this blog have looked at the Cape Town context, explaining its challenging past and present and describing its highly divided and unequal nature. HtH was formally established as an NPO in 1998. Emile YX? was a school teacher who eventually left full time employ, and later Black Noise, to further his commitment to social change. Today he provides the broad creative leadership to the Heal the Hood collaborative while his brother Tanswell manages day to day. It was the passion project of the leader of a successful hip hop group, Black Noise which started in the late 80s in Cape Town during the time of Apartheid - one of two seminal South African rap groups inspired by the political nature of the Hip Hop of the time (epitomised by groups like Public Enemy). Heal the Hood (HtH) is a community empowerment project using the elements of Hip Hop to work with young people from areas "at risk", It works to develop their self confidence and through this impact on broader community development.
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