WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — For many city kids, growing up on the same streets as Jennifer Lopez, Jay-Z and Lady Gaga can fuel dreams of making it big.
In Washington Heights, a group is hoping to make that dream a reality.
Urban Media Masters, an initiative at the Malcolm X and Dr Betty Shabazz Center, is offering free workshops for 11 to 18-year-olds looking to learn the intricacies of show business.
“From rappers, musicians, actors to film makers and clothing designers, our young people have a constant flow of new and exciting ideas and talents,” said the director of youth programming at the center, Eva Hernandez-El Fayed.
“Now the question is, how do they harness it?”
At a class recently led by Christian Garcia, who goes by the name DJ Lobo at radio station La Mega 97.9, told a group of young adults from the program, some of whom came from the Fresh Youth Initiatives After School Program, of the hard work he had to put in before getting his own timeslot on the radio.
“It took a lot of work for me to get here,” the performer told the wide-eyed audience that marveled at the fact that someone like them — a Dominican raised in the city — could achieve success at something he loves doing.
“It was fun to meet someone like that,” said Francesca Martinez, 11, who said the experience was inspiring. “Who knows what I can do one day?”
The Urban Media Masters program, led by Hernandez-El Fayed, interns Annette Lara and Steven Portes, and volunteers from local apparel and music production company Dimes and Twenys, have spent the past year trying to "break down the stereotypes that exist in our community to show that we are more than merely how we are perceived to be,” Hernandez-El Fayed said.
They engage kids in different types of classes, including music production, script writing, graphic design, music video production, film editing, money management, clothing design — “creative programming that provides stepping stones to understanding small business and financial literacy.”
“Our educational structure is aligned to not only educate, but to create jobs, opportunities, and a system for community development that is unprecedented,” said Hernandez-El Fayed.
“With a formula that mirrors that of the entertainment mogul, we interconnect products, events, and programs to monopolize the market in a way that benefits, instead of deteriorates, the development of young minds.”
Through their work this year, nearly 600 children in the area received toys distributed by Urban Media Masters participants.
For more information about the Urban Media Masters program contact Eva Hernandez-El Fayed at 646-912-0987 or united.nile@gmail.com.
