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TESTIMONY
Kevin A. Joseph, Executive Director, Purelements in Evolution And Dance on Enhancing Youth Engagement through Arts in Brownsville
1:05:17
·
144 sec
Kevin A. Joseph discusses the pivotal role of Purelements in providing dance and arts spaces for youth in Brownsville, highlighting challenges and future plans.
- Joseph reflects on his personal journey with dance as a constructive outlet during his upbringing in Eastern Europe, Brooklyn, and stresses the lack of accessible arts spaces in Brownsville.
- He outlines the formation of Purelements in 2006 to address the scarcity of arts engagement opportunities for youth, especially in East Brooklyn.
- Joseph emphasizes the continuing challenges of space and resources for Purelements, despite its efforts over the past 15 years.
- He appeals for support to ensure future projects, like the Brownsville Art Center, serve as cultural restoration and safe havens for the community.
- Finally, Joseph envisions the Brownsville Art Center as a beacon of hope, emphasizing the need for investing in the arts as fundamental to the city's fabric.
Kevin A. Joseph
1:05:17
Council of Emilia, welcome back.
1:05:19
It's been a pleasure to work with you in the past.
1:05:23
I'm just gonna start.
1:05:24
My name is Kevin A.
1:05:25
Joseph, executive director of Pure Elements in Evolution And Dance, son of Silly, Joseph, who migrated to the US in 1970.
1:05:31
In 1980, we moved to Eastern Europe, Brooklyn, and I've spent the next 10 years in Metro Housing.
1:05:37
Immediately fell in love with break dancing as my outlet.
1:05:40
Like so many other kids, I ran the streets, looking to learn, looking to battle, with our cardboard boxes, back spinning, and the most electric b boy dancing had to offer.
1:05:50
But the streets was my dance studio.
1:05:52
And that came with some positives and it came with a lot of negatives.
1:05:56
I was extremely fortunate to find mentors to nurture me and guide me into institute solutions for dance training to further my career, and I ended up performing in the most magical places around the country and around the world.
1:06:08
But so many of my friends were not fortunate.
1:06:11
And other than BRC, Brownsville Recreation Center, which is currently closed, there wasn't much that gave access to spaces for cultivation and maturation.
1:06:20
Preelements was formed in 2006 with the focus on East Brooklyn for one purpose and that was to create access with a mastery of teachers to pave the way.
1:06:29
But sadly some of our obstacles are the same as the 19 eighties, space and resources.
1:06:35
Even though we rent space out of IS392 in Brownsville for the past maybe 15 years, it has become common practice to use cafeteria floor as a dance room or to move classroom desks every time we make space and then go off a bit, we don't replace the room back exactly how we found it.
1:06:51
I mean, you know what happens at the I understand some of the concerns this project brings, apartment sizes, ratios of studios, 2 versus 3 bedroom apartments, But unfortunately, we are at the 9th hour, and our community has spoken.
1:07:08
Let's use this project to make future corrections for future community projects and not let our community go another day without tangible, incredible support from our leaders.
1:07:18
I'm finishing right now.
1:07:19
The Brownsville Art Center is not just another development project.
1:07:23
It's a culture restoration project.
1:07:25
It's a safe haven.
1:07:26
It's a beacon of light in a community that's been dark for way too long.
1:07:30
And for my closing, as our government has said, the fabric of the city is the arts.
1:07:37
So let's invest in the fabric of the city, and that's our kids.
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Kofi Williams, Executive Director of the Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation, on the Importance of Cultural Arts for Community Development in Brownsville
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Quardean Lewis-Allen, Founder and Executive Director of Youth Design Center, on the Need for Support in Youth Design and Technology Education in Brownsville