Learn about Uni­ty Char­i­ty, a nation­al char­i­ty ded­i­cat­ed to empow­er­ing youth aged 13–29 through hip hop pro­grams in all art forms, includ­ing beat­mak­ing, MC, graf­fi­ti, break­danc­ing, and spo­ken word. Pro­grams are all offered free of charge. 

About Uni­ty Char­i­ty
Uni­ty Char­i­ty pro­grams are orga­nized in three streams:

1. Inspire: per­for­mance-based sin­gle work­shops offered pri­mar­i­ly in schools to intro­duce youth to hip hop art forms as pow­er­ful tools for expres­sion and over­com­ing challenges.

2. Engage: week­ly com­mu­ni­ty pro­grams that build resilience, social net­works and skills. These pro­grams are led by peers and mentors.

3. Empow­er: advanced pro­grams that work towards pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment and launch­ing careers. The pro­grams focus on build­ing eco­nom­ic prospects, lead­er­ship skills devel­op­ment, and career exploration.

Fea­tured Pro­gram: Rough Draft

Rough Draft is led by facil­i­ta­tor Adri­an Bernard, and as part of the ‘Empow­er’ stream is an incu­ba­tor pro­gram to help MCs launch their careers. The pro­gram focus­es on devel­op­ing tech­ni­cal and busi­ness skills in the music indus­try. Adri­an brings in guests from the indus­try to sup­port par­tic­i­pants in devel­op­ing pro­fes­sion­al aspects of record­ing, writ­ing, per­form­ing, and career building. 

Com­pe­ten­cies need­ed to facil­i­tate well

Train­ing in youth work: Uni­ty Char­i­ty trains their artist-instruc­tors in youth work and in con­flict resolution.

Able to hold space for par­tic­i­pants: facil­i­ta­tors need to be able to bal­ance skills devel­op­ment with hold­ing space and build­ing com­mu­ni­ty. This means an aware­ness of when to slow down, take time just to chat, and build com­mu­ni­ty among participants.

Con­tin­u­ous devel­op­ment of your craft: Facil­i­ta­tors need to be good at their own craft that they are teach­ing, and also con­tin­ue to learn and get bet­ter at their craft. 

Sup­port par­tic­i­pants wher­ev­er they’re at: meet par­tic­i­pants where they are at, sup­port them to reach their goals.

What Does Suc­cess Look Like?

When par­tic­i­pants are clear­ly enjoy­ing them­selves in the pro­gram, that’s a good ses­sion, and if par­tic­i­pants keep in touch with each oth­er after the pro­gram ends, that’s pro­gram suc­cess. Suc­cess is also when par­tic­i­pants have improved artis­ti­cal­ly through the pro­gram, devel­oped their net­works and pro­fes­sion­al skills, and devel­oped their com­mu­ni­ty. Long-term suc­cess is build­ing self-expres­sion and lead­er­ship, such as when for­mer par­tic­i­pants become lead­ers and board mem­bers at Uni­ty Charity. 

View sec­tions of the documentary: 

00:00 Intro­duc­tion to Uni­ty Char­i­ty and streams of programming

01:48 Rough Draft Incu­ba­tor program

03:12 Impor­tance of com­mu­ni­ty in hip hop

06:37 Com­pe­ten­cies artists need to facilitate

08:32 Indi­ca­tors of Success

09:38 Hip hop as an art form and a culture