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Artist Encourages Bed-Stuy Kids to Find Their Voice Through Spoken Word

 Students at P.S. 81 learn to share their stories through public speaking as part of
Students at P.S. 81 learn to share their stories through public speaking as part of "Project MIC."
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Isak Tiner

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Sal DiBenedetto spends his days as a “hype man,” boosting up-and-coming performers with encouraging shouts and hollers to rile up the crowds.

Each week, the 24-year-old helps entertainers calm their nerves before taking the mic — a daunting task when the audience is filled with eager fourth- and fifth-graders.

DiBenedetto tok on the role after helping launch “Project MIC,” an enrichment program teaching spoken word to students at P.S. 81 in Bedford-Stuyvesant.  

Through the initiative, kids are able to perform their own pieces in front of peers to practice their self-expression and public speaking.

“Allowing children to understand their thoughts, emotions and opinions and then translate that into a spoken word piece is extremely powerful,” DiBenedetto said.

“It teaches them that, yes, their vision, opinion and experience counts, and it deserves to be heard.”

This month, the instructor is continuing his second residency at the DeKalb Avenue school with the help of educational arts organization InspireCorps.

DiBenedetto encourages his students to fill their writing with their passions and emotions, coaxing out even the shyest of performers. The kids spend part of their lunch hour in group discussions about issues including current events and their lives at home.

“One of my students went up to read us his first draft and began to cry as he talked about the death of his cousin,” he said. “Both myself and the other students in the class immediately stood up, hugged him and stood behind him as he finished.”

At one recent gathering, a group of eight kids formed a circle and vied for the limelight. Students shook off their nerves and read a mix of comedic and personal poems, with one 10-year-old stepping forward to rhyme “off the cuff.”

“When you’re rhyming, it allows you to speak your mind, and Sal also helps us to learn new words,” said Shanaya Huggins, a fifth-grader in the program. “It lets me talk about the real world. I can speak about nature, my family, or even talk about better bathrooms for our park. I can practice and become something big.”

DiBenedetto’s residency culminates in an end-of-the-year performance with his class. The Windsor Terrace resident also teaches spoken word year-round at Brooklyn East Collegiate Charter School in Prospect Heights.

Project MIC will soon branch out with adult workshops and private sessions for kids, he said.

“If there is one thing I truly believe in, it's that wasted potential is the absolute worse,” DiBenedetto added.

“I'm not trying to get these kids to become the next rap superstar, but rather have confidence when they speak. As I always tell them, ‘Speak so people want to listen, and listen when people speak.’”