Teens Served by a Planned Parenthood Community Center Use Their Rap Talents to Raise Awareness

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In Niagara Falls, New York one safe place for youth to go after school to do homework and relax with friends is called The Connection, a Planned Parenthood drop-in center for teens. The fact that such a place exists in “The Falls” is extraordinary in the era of Trump. The most ominous related tweet to emerge since the election came from a Buzzfeed:

Planned Parenthood is not sure it’s going to be OK https://t.co/ql69GSq6gc pic.twitter.com/s3HVw3gNGI

— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) February 27, 2017

The subtitle of the linked article suggests “a leaked draft of a bill shows Congress is getting ready to defund the women’s health clinics and abortion provider.” In the article, Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards says that “No one really knows what will make a difference anymore.”

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Kenny Neal Shults of Connected Health Solutions, Inc. (CHS) spoke with me on the subject. He thinks he may have an answer. “[Places] like The Connection provide an oasis,” he told me. The predominantly African-American youth in the struggling post-industrial town—home to one of the United States’ most scenic natural wonders—coexist with some of the highest HIV rates in the country. In the Niagara Falls region of New York state, the HIV/STI rates are nearly triple what they are in Ontario, Canada just across the border.

The kids who regularly visit The Connection worked with CHS to produce and develop a video about Planned Parenthood and The Connection. The youths identified that one significant barrier to access by teens in the region is misinformation and misconceptions about PP. As such, they decided to address the issue head-on and depict polar opposite views and sentiments about PP.

And they wanted it to be a rap music battle.

“Everyone in The Falls is a rapper,” said one young man in the group. He explained that many teens in the region write and perform hip hop and rap songs in the hopes they will be noticed. He went on to say that he hopes the video they produce will get them, and PP, noticed as well.

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When I asked Shults why he does this kind of work and why, he shared his story. His activism is largely a product of his upbringing. His adolescence was a Mardi Gras parade of miseries. He grew up a closeted gay kid in the deeply conservative City of New Orleans—famous for partying, not for enlightenment. Shult’s adolescent years were characterized by depression, self-loathing and poverty:

“Most of my energy went into surviving my home life until I could turn 18 so I could move out and get a job that would allow me to afford my own apartment. Pursuits such as college, travel, a relationship, and fulfillment were things I simply didn’t consider to be pertinent. And the shame I experienced and internalized about this fact only lessened my inclination to succeed.”

Yet succeed he did.

“I was lucky enough to get out of New Orleans and made my way by bussing and finally waiting tables. My fear of HIV persisted, and after experiencing my first hookup in a parking lot I was once again convinced I was dying. A year went by and I finally got an HIV test. The two-week waiting period was akin to torture. When I was told I was negative I decided to learn more about how to protect myself by going to a place where I knew I would be safe as a gay man – Planned Parenthood.”

While a seemingly odd fit, this relationship with an agency dedicated to helping marginalized people began a phase of recovery for which he’s still eternally grateful.

“I began doing volunteer work for Planned Parenthood’s Education Department educating young people through theater, a passion I had never before had an opportunity to exercise. That work landed me a job helping homeless and runaway kids, teaching them how to clean needles and use condoms. I started doing HIV-prevention work for a living about a year later at AIDS Services of Austin as the Gay Community Educator. I was only 22, with no college degree.”

But Shults was desperate to succeed and to find dignity in the work that had always vexed and panicked him.

“I only succeeded because I was given an opportunity to do so. For the first time, my youth and sexuality worked in my favor. Given how many young gay men were contracting the virus, the hiring committee felt I possessed valuable insight into a community being decimated by AIDS. And so they gave me a chance. And it is only for this reason that today I have a college degree, run a successful public health consultancy, produce social-marketing films, and do stand-up comedy in New York City. I was given an opportunity to succeed, not just warned that I needed to.

I work with teens so that they might have an opportunity to shine and experience pride. I work with teens because I want them to have a better experience than I did. I work with teens because they are at a pivotal fork in the road of life and a single opportunity can make an enormous difference. But most of all I work with teens because it has given me power over my own difficult adolescence by celebrating the accomplishments of those teens that were just like me.”

Word.

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Photo credit: The Connection