By 2004, IC Visions had helped in founding the Grassroots Youth
Collaborative, a network of youth-led programs and organizations in
Toronto, trying to support each other and find ways to leverage more
funding as a unit. There they connected with Kehinde Bah, a recovering
activist working for the Laidlaw Foundation and volunteering with
Mayor David Miller's Community Safety Panel. Kehinde had been looking
to get the Mayors office to embrace hip hop as a positive expression
of the city's youth, and to build something that might serve as a
meeting place for people from the isolated parts of the city,
otherwise known as the suburbs. IC Visions was a start, but what about
going beyond making the music, to helping youth market, distribute,
manage shows, etc.?
Eventually Kehinde and Gavin came together and starting working on what would become the Remix Project. With the blessing of the Safety Panel, partners and Funders gradually came on board to support their efforts.
The Remix Project officially launched in September 2006, after many meetings, emails, hours and weekends pouring over documents and proposals. As it continues to grow, We hope to have a cultural, economic, and social impact on the city and beyond, as a model of successful youth and adult partnership, and take the discussion of how to engage "at-risk" youth to how to give youth the tools and experiences they need to change their own direction.
As many sectors and groups begin to increasingly look to hip-hop as an engagement tool, we hope to set a new standard in displaying what this culture (that has given us a collective voice) can do to empower the next generation. We look forward to helping that next generation carry on that tradition.
Eventually Kehinde and Gavin came together and starting working on what would become the Remix Project. With the blessing of the Safety Panel, partners and Funders gradually came on board to support their efforts.
The Remix Project officially launched in September 2006, after many meetings, emails, hours and weekends pouring over documents and proposals. As it continues to grow, We hope to have a cultural, economic, and social impact on the city and beyond, as a model of successful youth and adult partnership, and take the discussion of how to engage "at-risk" youth to how to give youth the tools and experiences they need to change their own direction.
As many sectors and groups begin to increasingly look to hip-hop as an engagement tool, we hope to set a new standard in displaying what this culture (that has given us a collective voice) can do to empower the next generation. We look forward to helping that next generation carry on that tradition.
