By Biba Adams, Contributing Writer
Something about seeing young people trying their best and being creative brings out my emotions. Kids like the Detroit Youth Choir, Mosaic Youth Theatre, and Teen HYPE pull tears right out of my eyes when they perform on stage.
“When our young people perform on stage, they get to be seen, celebrated and validated in a world where they are often invisible,” explains Teen HYPE CEO Ambra Redrick. “Our teens are using theater to reserve the wrongs they see in our world. They see firsthand their collective power and through theater their voice is amplified.”
Teen HYPE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering young people to make positive choices, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Since its founding in 2004, Teen HYPE has served over 35,000 young people in the Detroit area, providing them with a safe and supportive environment to learn, grow, and thrive.
“We have served over 45,000 Detroit youth in classrooms and our communities,” Redrick says. “In the past decade we have secured over ten million in federal dollars to advance the well-being of teens. We contribute to the workforce by employing and supporting the development and of young adults in the nonprofit sector.”
She added, “We just completed a 3-year project to develop a city-wide action for youth 0-24. The Detroit Youth Action Plan is the first of its kind and we’re just getting started.”
The organization is presenting its 18th stage show, “Strung” on April 18 at Marygrove Theatre from 7-9 p.m.
The play delves into a captivating narrative set in a beauty and barber salon, a cultural cornerstone in the Black community, to explore the profound impact of social media on our lives. Through compelling storytelling, the play sheds light on how social media can bridge generational gaps, shape youth perspectives, and influence our well-being.
Mallory Childs, who is a high school senior was one of the authors of the play. “During the beginning of the process when we were brainstorming ideas, we talked about how social media can really attack the mind souls and bodies of our youth. Depending on what your gender is, your socioeconomic class–you can be affected very differently. So we wrote a male character and a female character who are having unique experiences.”
Childs, who is the president of Teen HYPE’s Youth Advisory Council and a youth member of the organization’s Board of Directors, further explains, “At Teen HYPE we talk a lot about consent, we talk about a lot about relationships and the ways that they can affect us. So, we see the subject of social media as sort of a hybrid of those issues. We wanted to be able to create a production that reflects that, and that could be successful in raising awareness for an issue that we feel really affects us, because our voices were really the determining factor of what the play will be about. It really does have youth just all over it in every way.”
There are three Strung productions this year, but only one is open to the public. During the other two, young people are bused in from schools across the city to watch the high-energy performance that features music, dancing, and the acting of teens their age. The exciting experience is mutual–the students of Detroit get to leave school for an afternoon, be treated to lunch, and see a dynamic show. And what do the youth of Teen HYPE get?
Callie Brantley, Manager of Youth Leadership explains the importance of the production. “Youth Leaders gain knowledge/ insight on potential career paths and life lessons. The character built on and off stage allows youth to grow as leaders, artist, educators, and advocates.”
The third performance is open to the community, and it has a two-fold goal. To allow the community to witness the power of youth performers and to encourage intergenerational dialogue. The second is to raise money to fund the organizations’ programs. During this, their 20th year, the goal is lofty—to raise $200,000 to ensure that afterschool programming is guaranteed.
Teen HYPE’s programs include afterschool programs, mentoring programs, and summer camps. These programs focus on providing young people with the skills they need to succeed in school, career, and life.
The organization uses a three-pronged process that focuses on three interrelated domains: Celebrating Youth (Micro), Building Bridges (Mezzo), and Confront Barriers (Macro), which are inherently interconnected and inseparable.
“We are working to make Detroit the best place in the nation to raise black and brown children,” Redrick explains. “We are naming and addressing the inequities that exist for teens. We are working at all three levels to make a greater impact. We are using collective impact to advance the Detroit Youth Action Plan.”
The Detroit Youth Action Plan is a city-wide project that defines the resources, needs, pathways and collective vision for children and youth in the city of Detroit. Teen HYPE sees DYAP as a community roadmap that guides youth toward success, healthy development, and wellness.
“Notably most adults see teenagers as problems that need to be fixed. As a result, we have pushed them out,” Redrick says. “There are signs on stores, teens are prohibited from malls and theaters. We want to change the negative narrative associated with teens. What if instead of pushing them out we welcomed them in. What if we created meaningful spaces for teens and we planned with them in mind? What would our city be like if teens were involved in city planning and if they held a seat at the table where we were making decisions?”
For more information on Teen HYPE, visit their website, TeenHYPE.org.
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