Breaking it down: How hip hop is changing Hintonburg

The Hintonburg Breakers rock the house at the Senate Chambers. From left to right: Absobeha Adamu, Kyle Callwood, Lorrie Marlow, Ramnon Adamu, Freddie Garcia Sollows, Javier Garcia Sollows. (Tanya Springer/offCentre)

By Tanya Springer

Between bites of pizza, 12-year-old Kyle Callwood explained why breakdancing was so important to him.

“It’s taught me to have tolerance for people, made me more confident, and is good for expressing feelings—either good or bad.”

Eleven-year-old Ab Adamu puts down his slice and chimes in.

“Dancing is expressing yourself. When you’re on a rush, about to perform, you give it your all and don’t even hold back. If you do that, you’ll always succeed.”

And succeed, these boys have. Ab and Kyle are the founding members of the  Hintonburg Breakers, or as they’re known in the community, the HB Breakers.

Yesterday, the group, which also includes Ab’s brother Ram Adamu, 8, and Freddie Garcia Sollows, 6, and Javier Garcia Sollows, 9, who are also brothers, performed in Parliament’s Senate Chambers in celebration of National Child Day.

The event, hosted by Senator Jim Munson, marked the 20^th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The boys were invited by Senator Munson personally, who heard their unique story, and found value in what the HB Breakers represent.

Watching Monday’s performance on Parliament Hill was especially emotional for the boys’ parents, many of whom are new to Canada.

“I am so very proud,” smiled Ab and Ram’s mother, Azeb Debebe. Like many Hintonburg residents, Debebe is not Canadian-born. She immigrated from Ethiopia before her children were born.

The HB Breakers got their start at the Hintonburg Community Centre, in a dance program funded by the Hintonburg Economic Development Committee (HEDC). The HEDC is a self-described hyper-local organization that promotes positive development and community use of parks and public places throughout Hintonburg.

Lorrie Marlow, the HEDC’s youth coordinator, explains the importance of bringing these boys off the streets.

“When [the HEDC] first started thinking about youth programs, the neighbourhood was dealing with prostitution, drug use and crack houses…A big problem was when kids waiting for the bus in the morning would encounter prostitutes working, or when Johns approached the mothers who were walking their kids to school,” she recalled.

Marlow, 46, moved from Saskatchewan to Ottawa in 2001. With no children of her own, Marlow credits T-Bone, her big Retriever-Husky, with introducing her to the youth in the community.

“I was out walking the dog all the time, and ran into the same kids every day and got to know them,” said Marlow. “I could tell they were bored, and began to understand that their parents didn’t have the time or the means to take an active role or provide recreation in their kids’ lives.”

Never one to subdue an instinct, Marlow quickly got involved in the HEDC, trying to think of ways the group could engage neighbourhood youth, without having to levy any registration or equipment fees. It wasn’t an easy sell, as the HEDC was understandably preoccupied with needle-hunting programs, the closure of neighbourhood crack dens and an escalating crime rate.

“We had no budget at the start, so we thought dance—which involves virtually no equipment—might be a good option,” she said.  “We wanted the chance to bring in good male role models—since that was what many of these children were lacking.”

Marlow volunteered countless hours of her time, soliciting donations and applying for grants through private foundations and government departments.

“I nearly had given up,” she recalled, “when we finally got our first big supporter.”

CTV Ottawa’s vice-president of news and longtime news anchor, Max Keeping, gave the HEDC the financial kick-start they needed.

“He gave us $1,500. It was the nicest, most unexpected thing…and it allowed for us to keep going,” said Marlow.

In 2004, after nearly two years of fundraising for instructor fees and securing facility space, the Hintonburg Hip-Hop (HHH) program was launched. 90 youth, primarily boys, came out to the first class.

“We were completely overwhelmed. It was clear the need was there, so [the HEDC] made a promise that we would do all that we could to sponsor this program. In return, the kids had to give back to the community, by performing at local festivals and charity events,” said Marlow.

Shortly after the program’s launch, Keeping was invited to a performance.

“You could see the pride in their faces,” he recalled. “These kids were really taken by the opportunity to do something great within their own community. That is a joy that should not be denied to any child no matter what their socio-economic background.”

Since 2004, the HHH program has run every Tuesday in the community centre. Membership numbers have been steady throughout this time, although the popularity of the breakdancing program seemed to increase in 2006 following the formation of the HB Breakers.

Marlow argued that while the HHH program has played a large role in changing the lives of local youth, it has had an equally profound effect on parents.

“At the start, it was apparent that parents were disinterested with the group. We had a lot of trouble communicating with them in the beginning.”

She said that as time passed, and more kids began attending classes, parents naturally became curious and began to come to festivals to watch their children perform. At festivals and performances, members of the HEDC would ask parents for help, and try to engage them in other community groups.

Monique LaChapelle, has worked at the Hintonburg Community Centre for the last 17 years, and is now the director of the centre. She too noted a change in Hintonburg’s sense of community.

“It’s been this gradual change in the last five years,” she said. “Parents are taking baby steps and making use of the programs available to them and their children.”

Marlow said that many of these parents were dealing with issues of isolation, either culturally or socially.

“They needed someone to reach out and ask them to be a part of the community. It isn’t an easy thing to do on your own. But we started to ask for their help at festivals and community events, and they never said no. They were a bit apprehensive, but happy to be involved.”

She argued that community involvement and increased communication have given many new Canadians the confidence to go to their child’s parent-teacher interviews, or seek out services in the community.

“If one of the mothers is having trouble of some kind, they might not want to go straight to any of the services, but they will talk to me about it. And I’ll find the help they need in a discrete way,” Marlow said, adding that community facilitators such as the HEDC have also been involved in mediating petty neighbourhood disputes.

Mature beyond their years, the older members of the HB Breakers are remarkably conscious of the greater social movement they have become a part of.

“Even if you don’t think you’ll be good at it, doing a group activity like this is really important because it teaches you self-respect and helps with leadership,” said Ab.

Kyle agreed. “Now we are leaders for the younger kids in class. We show them that you can go from Hintonburg to Parliament. And that’s a big deal.”