Learning To See 'At-Risk' Youth As 'At-Promise' Youth Require...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2014/02/24/learning-to-see-...

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FEB 24, 2014 @ 11:33 PM

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Learning To See 'At-Risk'

Youth As 'At-Promise'
Youth Requires Turning
This Assumption On Its
Head
Ashoka
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Ashoka , CONTRIBUTOR

Newly elected Ashoka US Fellow Tomas Alvarez III is a

lifelong fan of hip-hop. And as a social worker, hes always
understood that hip-hop could communicate with inner city
kids in a way that talk therapy was never able to. After all, the
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Learning To See 'At-Risk' Youth As 'At-Promise' Youth Require...

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genre was practically

invented for themmany
of the most iconic
hip-hop artists
themselves had survived
similar circumstances,
unlike most therapists
and social workers, who
could not begin to relate
to them. But in Alvarezs
experience, it never
occurred to anyone that
perhaps the most
significant source of
healing might actually
come from within the
inner city itself.
By implementing
hip-hop therapy
programs, Alvarez has
shown that its possible
to empower youth to
direct their own care and
recovery. Ashoka
conducted the following
interview with him to
better understand this
philosophy.
What is your big idea?
If mental health systems
want to better serve
diverse youth
populations, they must be

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Learning To See 'At-Risk' Youth As 'At-Promise' Youth Require...

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adapted to be culturally
responsive, youthcentered and strengthbased. I believe by
integrating popular youth
culture like hip-hop with
proven therapy models
we can increase access to
care for youth turned off
by traditional therapy.
As a young adult, hip-hop
taught me about the
power of creative
expression as a pathway
to healing, development
and social change. It was
through those lessons
and through my training
and education as a social
worker that I developed
one of the first Hip Hop
Therapy programs in the
US.
When did you realize
you had to pursue
this mission?
In 2004 after piloting a
Hip Hop Therapy
program at a public high
school, I witnessed the
immediate impact it had
on its youth participants,
many of whom were

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Learning To See 'At-Risk' Youth As 'At-Promise' Youth Require...

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chronically truant from

school and at-risk for
dropping out. 100% of
the youth that
participated completed
the Hip Hop Therapy
program, and shortly
after we saw an increase
in their grades and
attendance. They also
reported that Hip Hop
Therapy changed how
they felt about therapy
and mental health in
general. Others started
clamoring to sign up. At
that point I realized I had
something special.

What keeps you up at

night?
Recommended by Forbes

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ofTRENDING
As a man
colorONworking in the mental health field, I am
LINKEDIN
painfully aware of the disparities facing boys and young men of
9 Habits Of
color.
For me,
finding ways to improve outcomes among this
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group is notPeople
a job, it is my duty. I cannot sit still while masses of
young people fall through the cracks of our failing systems.
Frederick Douglass once said, It is easier to build stronger
children than it is to repair broken men. I am in the
occupation of doing both.

MOST POPULAR

What keeps you motivated?

Bearing witness to the creativity and resilience of the youth
with whom I work. Rapper Tupac Shakur wrote a poem entitled
The rose that grew from the concrete in which he
characterizes the resilience demonstrated by youngsters that
grow up in harsh conditions. I believe we see what we choose to
focus on. And I choose to focus on young peoples strengths. As
a society we are too accustomed to looking at certain groups of
youth as at-risk and failing to acknowledge that they are also
at-promise.
What is a challenge youre facing as you continue to
grow, and what are the roses in the concrete what
bright spots are pulling you forward?
Sustainability and capacity building are always concerns of
mine. It is hard to secure funding in the mental health field for
a non-traditional program. Youre challenging the status quo,
and its up to you to prove that your big idea works. Over the
years we have had to learn to make the most with limited
resources. Needless to say, necessity is the mother of all
inventionthats the silver lining in all this. Not having the
proper funding all these years has required us to leverage our
creative capital. I always say relationships are our greatest
currency. We have accomplished so much over the last nine
years and received so much support from our community that

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Learning To See 'At-Risk' Youth As 'At-Promise' Youth Require...

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has helped us grow. But growing is the easy part, sustaining

that growth and insuring longevity is much harder.
Whats the biggest way youve changed your
model/learned from experience since 2004?
Over the last nine years I have learned that when young people
have a voice, they can help and heal themselves. That may
sound simple, but its quite radical. My goal is not simply to
provide mental health services to young people but rather to
cultivate their capacity to become stewards of their own mental
health and well-being. Its about building agency and resilience
in the face of trauma, which is sadly so present in urban
communities.
I have also learned that I dont have to do everything myself. I
am lucky to have amazing staff and colleagues that have helped
build Beats Rhymes and Life into a trailblazing organization.
BRL would not be what it is today if I tried to take on the
challenge alone.
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