Career Day Taught Me: Hip Hop Is Really Mainstream
Lil's Waynes drawers are showing & JayZ's t-shirt are covering his!
Today I visited a suburban school in Northern, Virginia to talk about my career as an author / filmmaker. I showed the students the six books that I’ve written and I even showed them the movie poster to my first film, Can She Be Saved? As an extra bonus (in case they didn’t like my books)–I brought a old copy of my magazine, Mad Rhythms. They listened to me talk about my books and my film, but they were most excited when I told them that I had interviewed Jay-Z, been to Diddy’s house in the Hamptons and they were even more excited when I told them that I had gone to Lil’ Wayne’s 16th Birthday party. Huh? These young people were in 1st through 5th grade! They were so excited when I mentioned the name “Lil Wayne.”
I guess in my mind, I love music so much, I think that its a language that is spoken only to me, but the reality is that music is a universal language that is spoken to all people. When I mentioned to the young people that I had interviewed Jay-Z, there were all sorts of “wow”s and sighs in the room. I knew Jay-Z was really, really hot with Hard Knock Life, but is he still that hot? Apparently. That was something that surprised me today.
I had a great time inspiring and talking to young people about my career as a writer, author, filmmaker. I love it so much that it never feels like work.
Tags: author, career day, filmmaker, jay z, Lil Wayne, writer
About the Author
Yasmin Shiraz is the President of Still Eye Rise Films, an independent production company which films educational and thought provoking documentaries that chronicle the lives, traumas and experiences of youth. Her first production, Can She Be Saved?, a documentary that examines violence among middle school girls, was an official selection of the 2009 Roxbury Film Festival and recently won a 2009 Indie Award of Merit from IndieFest.
Yasmin Shiraz is the Award winning Author of Retaliation a novel about a community’s response to youth violence. In 2009, it was selected as one of the top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers by the American Library Association. She is the author of The Blueprint for My Girls: How To Build A Life Full of Courage, Determination & Self Love (Simon and Schuster) and five other books. Her best selling “Blueprint” empowerment series is utilized as a self esteem, motivational, and educational tool at middle and high schools, after school programs, non-profit youth centers, as well as Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the country. 
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