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Dance and song filled John F. Hartranft Elementary School in North Philadelphia as hip-hop music was played to jumpstart purposeful conversations on bullying, future careers and navigating life at school and home.
DJ Deezy of the Cause International spun the tunes at the Thursday morning assembly program. Clusters of students contorted their bodies in the latest dance styles. The DJ cheered on 150 students, often calling up the best dancers to the stage.
A competition ensued for students to guess the names of the artists and songs to warm up the crowd.
DJ Deezy introduced a panel of professionals with experience in various careers including a ticket sales executive from the 76ers, a counselor working with incarcerated youth, a hip-hop artist who started his career at 13 and Chase Moore, an education equity advisor at the U.S. Department of Education.
Moore shared that growing up, his father was incarcerated for life, and that he struggled learning to read when he was younger. Despite the odds, he persevered, and has a successful career at a federal agency.
“We want to inspire the youth and show them that there are so many ways to be successful,” said Antoine Taylor, 28, the founder and CEO of Cause International. “We do that by creating a panel that is representative of people from diverse backgrounds, individuals in diverse career paths.”
The group’s “What’s Your Cause” tour has taken the program to about 30 schools nationwide. It started in Los Angeles and has traveled to Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C. and as far away as Ghana.