“…They say I gotta learn / But nobody’s gonna teach me / If they can’t understand, how can they reach me?”

These are lines from Coolio’s famous song Gangsta’s Paradise. It is a compelling question: If we don’t understand the youth, how can we reach them? When we say that we want to reach all kids, we really mean ALL kids. A big part of this is finding the right staff. The Coffee Oasis has an incredible gift in our Manager of Street Hope, Darrell Thomas.

Darrell is also a talented rap artist (Smiley-D). This past year he has used his abilities to teach a rap class at the Oasis Centers and at Kitsap Regional Library. His instruction both develops musical ability and teaches youth to build others up with their lyrics. The kids in his class are even recording their own album and putting on a concert!

We wanted to introduce you to Darrell and give you a behind the scenes look at one of his classes. Enjoy!