Hip Hop Legend, Jim Jones, Returns To His Roots In Harlem To Speak With AFJ Participants

Each week, at Avenues for Justice (AFJ), we host a wide range of HIRE Up programming online and onsite at our community centers in Harlem and the Lower East Side. To address the emerging needs of our Participants, HIRE Up workshops include Legal Rights and Responsibilities, Teen Empowerment, Job Readiness, Coding, STEM/STEAM, Digital and Financial Literacy, Mental Health 101, Cooking and much more. We also take our Participants on cultural outings citywide to museums, galleries, sports venues, and events. This week are highlighting the launch of our new Hip Hop Therapy workshop series facilitated by AFJ Court Advocate, Elsie Flores.

Elsie designed the pilot Hip Hop Therapy curriculum to provide our young people with a creative outlet to express their feelings through the lens of music, while learning more about the genre, its history and impact worldwide. Working within predominantly Black and Brown communities, it is very apparent how mental health stigmas and unaddressed traumas are prevalent amongst the population which AFJ serves. The curriculum uses Hip Hop to address the mental health needs of our Participants. Currently pursuing her master’s degree in Social Work at New York University, Elsie notes how “mental health is a growing concern, and I strongly believe that we need to find ways for young people to be able to express themselves. I hope this workshop will help in that regard.”

AFJ kicked off the Hip Hop cohort this week with a guest appearance by legendary Hip Hop artist, Jim Jones at our Harlem community center. After chasing his dream of being a Hip Hop artist for most of his childhood, Jim Jones co-founded The Diplomats in 1997 with Harlem native, Cam’ron, and later included Harlem native Julez Santana. After The Diplomats’ first album, Jim Jones went on to release seven solo albums between 2003 and 2019 cementing himself in hip hop history. On the heels of Hip Hop celebrating its 51st anniversary, Jim Jones returned to his roots in Harlem to speak with our Participants about his journey.

During the meet and greet session, Jim Jones shared about his own struggles with mental health. As a young person growing up between Harlem and the Bronx, and raised primarily by his grandmother, he now recognizes how he, along with many of his peers, suffered from PTSD as a result of the issues they were facing in the streets. Unfortunately, like many inner-city youth, they did not have access to mental health wellness resources. As a result, he turned to music as a therapeutic art form to release the trauma and stress that he was experiencing. Jim Jones stated how, “each generation of youth is expressing themselves in the way that they know how through Hip Hop, and oftentimes the form in which they do so is reflective of the state of their communities. If their communities continue to be violent, their music will continue to be violent.”

One of our Participants asked him if he enjoyed performing. Candidly, Jim Jones shared that while he appreciates and likes performing, he does not love it. His goal was always to use Hip Hop as a means to get out of the streets. He knew he was musically talented and used that gift to get him to where he wanted to go, as a means to provide for his family, and more importantly, to give back to his community. Jim Jones highlighted how talking to groups, like Avenues for Justice, is where he feels purpose in this stage of his life. He wishes that more artists would return to their communities to talk to, inspire and share with at-risk young people about the challenges that they faced and how they were able to overcome them.

“It is always refreshing to see artists not only staying connected to their communities but using their platforms to impart knowledge to our young people. Jim Jones shared how they can create opportunities for themselves, outside of music, through fundamentals such as financial literacy. It was beneficial for our Participants, who are working as part of our HIRE Up employment initiative, to hear from Jim Jones about the importance of establishing and building credit with their earnings.” ~Elizabeth Frederick, AFJ Executive Director

“He gave very good advice for the youth out here. He said that the past made him who he is now.” ~AFJ Participant, Jenna

“It was a good experience meeting Jim Jones and learning what he went through. Seeing all the steps that he took to get to where he’s at now made me respect him. I make music and I am trying to turn my life around too.” ~AFJ Participant, Alex

Jim Jones concluded his visit by sharing with our Participants how he “knows it’s hard out there. But the time that you put in to get a real job and make legal money will pay off. Trust me, I have been on both sides of that fence and the legal route always pays off”. We look forward to the next four weeks of the pilot curriculum at our Lower East Side community center.