Translator: Ellen Maloney Reviewer: Riaki Poništ
Jo G: Hi everyone, my name is Jo.
Toby G: Yo, what's up? My name is Toby G.
JG: We are husband and wife, and together we have six fantastic children of our own,
and we run Street Factory in Plymouth.
We are a hip hop company and we use the ten elements of hip hop
to transform lives and help young people just exceed their potential.
The ten elements we use are rapping, DJing, graffiti, dance, and knowledge.
Knowledge of yourself: just be the best you.
And the five core elements we use, which I believe me and Toby live by,
are respect, peace, love, unity, and just having fun.
We work with the whole community but we specialise in young people.
Young people who from us need hope and high expectation.
What we found is they just want to feel valued and they want to give value
and we help them achieve this along with resilience and pride.
TG: Yes, and I feel I do what I do because I’m one of these young people.
And I’m a Romani gypsy, and I know that many times,
people can’t see past that label "gypsy."
Due to my kind of experiences and going through things in life,
I’ve learnt how to connect and understand these young people.
That’s why I do what I do,
and I can connect really greatly with them.
JG: I feel what you do is you actually nurture your inner child -
you give them everything you know you needed.
I mean a lot of the young people we work with have complex needs.
I would say little or no aspirations; they're disconnected from their dreams.
They say to us, "There’s no hope for me.
I don’t know anyone with a job, a house, a car.
Why are you saying my life’s going to be different?
I feel like I’m going to live like this and then die."
We work with them and mentor them
because we believe every individual in the world is a genius.
Many have not discovered it yet!
When they actually realize that they are the lead in their own play
and they can write their own story, they begin to love themselves
and that’s when we say,
"What do you love to do? What are you passionate about?
That has to be your purpose in life; that has to be your profession."
All our work is devised on the sole need of the young people.
We work with local police, schools, and colleges.
Sometimes we’ve actually walked up to bus stops,
got them off and said,
"Come and work with us, let’s do some positive stuff together."
I'd say the underlining current of our work
is morals, beliefs, "be the best you."
We give them positive choices: who do you want to be?
What life would you like to live?
One of the favorite projects Toby runs is in primary schools with young people.
It’s called "The Young Ladies and Young Gentleman’s Club."
We actually go in and we teach them the importance of using your manners.
Find your own morals and beliefs in life but live by them.
Sometimes Toby works with young people really struggling with life,
and he has to say, "All I can say is, hold your head up high.
You have to be brave."
And the homework is: go home, carry a shopping bag for your parents,
and if you're on a bus and an elderly person needs a seat,
get up and give them the seat.
It’s like, go into your community, value your community, give back.
Be proud of who you are.
JG: Yes, and at Street Factory, we are very inclusive.
We believe that we are one with everyone.
In Street Factory, wherever you're from,
we have very high expectations for everyone who comes to us.
Imagine you coming into my class and I’m teaching a crew training,
and you'd like to learn a dance move.
I’d get one of my little ones to teach you because we believe
knowledge comes in all shapes and sizes and is something that should be shared.
Our legacy is teach to teach; everything I teach you, you teach others.
Everything I give to you, you give to others,
and that’s something really important to us.
We’re in the community for the community,
and we have a strong belief in these young people.
Every belief, and they can feel it.
JG: One of our favorite projects was around ten years ago,
for the local police.
We met this amazing young man called Eli, he was about 14,
and there was s a lot of trouble in the estate he lived in.
He walked in like, "I want to bust some moves out for the girls,
that’s why I’m here," I’ll never forget that.
But he’s still with us today, and it's ten years on.
He’s a youth worker, a dancer, and he'll walk up to those young people
and go, "Right out the seat. I am you. I’ve walked in your shoes.
I’ve got the same family as you, and you can do this."
And again, that authenticity like Toby says, "Real recognizes real."
TG: Then we’ve got another young person who came into Street Factory
just to support a friend,
and four years down the line, he’s still with us today.
Perry came from an area with loads of drugs and alcohol and trouble
and wasn’t sure where to go or what to do in life.
Perry, today, now, is representing a physical theater company
based in London called "Frantic Assembly,"
and he’s just come back from a tour with them in Malaysia and Singapore,
and shows that with support and belief in these young people
and giving them some hope, anything is possible.
Then we have Tash.
Tash came to Street Factory and is now training to be a Street Factory educator.
She's going to be doing what I’m doing.
When Tash came, she came with many different needs
and one of them was trust because she got let down so many times before.
At Street Factory, we believe in them, support them, and guide them.
We know her future is bright with us.
JG: After you've worked with us, no matter what industry you enter,
you'll always think outside the box.
They've received hope, but they now go out and give hope,
and we have the privilege of having some amazing young people with us today.
We’ve devised together an original piece of hip hop theater
with original music on the theme of hope, but all the quotes we actually use today
are from young people we've worked with over the last ten years.
I hope you enjoy it. Peace.
TG: Love. JG: Love.
TG&JG: One.
(Applause)
(Music)
JG: See me.
Don't judge me by family, the way I look, the color of my skin,
the 28 foster homes, the baggy jeans.
See me.
If you actually looked upon me with no judgment,
you'd feel my pain.
You'd understand my journey, you'd connect.
No, I mean a real connection:
soul to soul.
One, because this is my story.
Their screaming begins, you raise the roof.
I love you both dearly, I wish you could see the truth.
The truth of my pain, eternal scars that I bear.
You then say you love me but you see my heart tear.
I'm now another statistic, a child with a messed up head.
I wish you'd both see this when you put me to bed.
"Walk in their shoes," they say.
I know when you work with a child like me that you've actually read my history.
I'm no fool, I can feel it.
What they tell you is I need discipline.
Don't go challenging my behavior because I'm a waste of space.
There's no hope for me, yeah, boundaries.
That's what I need, yeah - boundaries, boundaries, boundaries.
Just challenge me.
That's why I have a tunnel, but there's no light at the end of mine.
But if you just once asked me what I need,
it would be kindness, humility, compliments.
Make an irresponsible young person responsible.
Raise the bar. Believe in me.
Love. Love, love, love me.
Give me a clean slate.
For I was born with a paper but I have no pen.
I'm here and I'm drowning.
I'm drowning in just a sea of labels.
But if you could, if you could unlock my potential -
you have the key - reconnect me to my dreams.
Share your knowledge with me.
Be generous.
You can actually rediscover my genius.
Hear me. Value me. Empower me.
Empower me to keep drawing outside the lines,
to keep my elephants full of polka dots and rainbows,
just don't leave them grey.
Be my change.
Be my light.
Be my hope.
One.
(Applause) (Cheers)
Thank you.