About Hip Hop Education 4 Youth

Michele Hairston (Hip Hop Educator and Historian ) Founded Unifying Through The Hip Hop Culture, Inc in 2001 in New York City. Ms. Hairston (Founder) notices that the youth were spending a lot of time listening to the explicit lyrics and imitating the “gangsterizm” of the Rap artist and realized that the youth, as a result, was becoming more violent towards one another.

The Founder received her education in the area of the History of Hip Hop from different pioneers such as; Kool Herc, Krs-one, and Dj Red Alert and more who later became her mentors. She uses her knowledge to empower youth in the community and to inspire passion to learn about the History of the Hip Hop Culture. The Founder also noticed that the youth loves Hip Hop but did not understand the Hip Hop movement. In 2002, The Founder was encouraged to bring the company to the Harrisburg School District in Harrisburg, PA so that the children can experience the culture and get a better understanding of what Hip Hop is really about. She created a curriculum to teach what is called Hip Hop Education which incorporates History, Math, Social Studies, and Literacy. The program was successfully implanted in a variety of after school programs and class rooms. These programs would later merge with Entertainment and Arts for performance showcase and tournaments. Since 2001 the organization has created a Break Dancing Crew, Graffiti Crew and Emcee Crew. Collectively with the founder “No N- Word Movement” and “Hip Hop Against Violence Program” was implemented as another attempt to spread the education around and display positivity in the Hip Hop Culture. The students of the organization has traveled to various venues on the east coast to compete in Break Dancing competition which allowed them to showcase their talent in the presence of Hip Hop Pioneers and Scholars while displaying the organic roots of Hip Hop Culture. By 2008, The organization had successfully participate in Breakin 4 Peace, Hip Hop (bboy) Award Show, and Hip Hop against Violence in Philadelphia and Harrisburg Pa. as well as multiple workshops within the Harrisburg School District.

The Founder is continuing to work on preserving the Hip Hop culture and educating the youth on the History of Hip Hop. She also have continued to strive for positivity and unity within our community and bridge the gap between generations through music and events.