When Jarratt Best and Bruce Kyereh-Addo founded the campus club Black Affinity, it was designed to fight discrimination and racism on campus. The pair quickly realized that they could also make a difference in the broader community, fighting societal issues such as discrimination and poverty. To offer young people aged 10 to 15 an alternative to an aimless summer, Black Affinity, with the support of the Community Foundation of Ottawa and the Faculty of Public Affairs, launched a free summer camp at Carleton.
The day camp Rise and Flow engaged youth through music—teaching skills such as singing, rapping, writing lyrics and sheet music, production, and mixing and mastering—and inspirational programming addressing issues such as self-esteem and defense from and prevention of bullying.
“We want to give kids a strong foundation to develop in a positive direction without the worry of falling through the cracks and getting stuck,” say Best and Kyereh-Addo.
Next …