Taiyo Na
(Genre: Hip Hop/Rap; Location: NYC):
Taiyo Na is not only a hip hop/rap artist, but also a writer and educator, whose work spans two decades of cultural and pedagogical contributions to urban communities. Na uses music for community-building by creating a sense of belonging with personal experiences. As a hip hop powerhouse, his collaboration with Magnetic North produced the Holla Concert Series - which has raised over $45,000 in charity since its founding in 2009. The concerts' proceeds were donated to Aid for Children Without Parents (ACWP), an organization devoted to the fight against human trafficking in Southeast Asia through creating schools and orphanages. As a writer, his work has appeared in Aperture, Poets House and Hyphen. As an educator, his areas of practice include transformative justice, culturally responsive pedagogy, inclusion and coaching basketball.