Our Story:
In the spring of 2000, after a string of school shootings and unceasing youth violence in Washington, D.C., a small group of young artists and educators came together determined to shift the paradigm; they wanted to use their music, visual art and spoken word poetry to inspire youth to put down the guns and stop the violence. They also wanted to teach youth that expression didn’t always have to be negative to sell. The founding members' passion and commitment to youth development and cultural transformation was the impetus for organizing themselves into a formal entity called One Common Unity (OCU).
On October 21st, 2000, One Common Unity, now a non-profit organization produced its first citywide event: the One Common Unity Alternatives to Violence Rally & Festival. OCU took a collective stand for peace in the nation's capital, providing positive examples to encourage healthy living. A major component of the event was a violent toy trade-in, sponsored in part by the Metropolitan Police Department's Office of Youth Violence. In exchange for toy guns, action figures & video games promoting violence, youth received Washington Wizards tickets, educational gifts & sports equipment. OCU also introduced the Circle of Life chalk drawing as an interactive experience to facilitate sincere & constructive communication.
Building on this event’s success, after a year of diligent planning, OCU launched the Circle of Life Tour. The tour was inspired by the youth who attended the Festival and asked the founding artist-educators, “How come we don’t hear and learn about this stuff in school?” Thus began the delivery of OCU youth empowerment classes & workshops, incorporating live music, dance, visual arts, & poetry to foster community consciousness, positive communication, conflict resolution, and character growth in public schools throughout DC. From the years of 2001 – 2003, the volunteer driven Circle of Life Tour reached youth in 4 high schools, 2 junior high schools, and 3 elementary schools.
Since then, OCU has produced and facilitated several successful youth programs, art festivals & events. Out of the Circle of Life youth empowerment tour grew "Revel Youth Shine," a youth-driven music & literary arts summer program that has witnessed the creation of 3 full-length CDs, 2 anthologies of poetry, and a professional music video. Revel Youth Shine is now its own 501(c)3 non-profit entity and grown beyond just music and book publishing, incorporating media arts - video, web design and film - and providing inspiration for establishing the OCU Omni Media Project.
In 2003 OCU began nurturing The Movement sessions, an ongoing series of open-mic events that still flourish at DC's Bar Nun. The Movement show has been a preeminent showcase in the District for progressive young artistic talent, ranging from poets to musicians. In 2003 OCU began supporting The Womb Experience with The Movement beginning, receiving funding from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. The DC Commission on Arts & Humanities has nurtured many OCU artists & projects since 2000.
In the organization’s first ten years, OCU projects and programs have:
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Provided nonviolence workshops and seminars in four District of Columbia high schools, three junior high schools, three elementary schools, and seven recreation centers.
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Provided music literacy, nonviolence and leadership development in the summer months to over 200 youth ages 14 - 18 living in D.C. through our “RYS: Above the Violence” summer youth program.
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Provided self-awareness and empowerment programs for over 100 young women from Washington Metro Area high schools.
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Enriched the D.C. community through several cultural events and celebrations.
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Administered the youth filmmaking program “A Nu View” for two consecutive summers, teaching 22 local high school students the principles of conflict resolution through the production of a documentary film.
As an organization, we produce a variety of positive and uplifting community projects and events that create space for dialogue and personal transformation; develop strategic partnerships and collaborate with organizations and institutions with similar missions; and inspire youth and adults to live nonviolently by providing quality and comprehensive peace education programming.
Current Programs and Activities:
OCU is working on a number of current projects. The past five summers we have trained over 1,300 teachers a year from around the country in arts-based peace education techniques. These teachers work with the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools and educate over 9,000 inner-city children a year. OCU also hosts ongoing peace education workshops for children at Sasha Bruce, The Beacon House, the Harry Thomas Recreation Center, Wilson Senior High School, Girls Inc. and other locations. We create customized programs for each group, which are taught by our highly-qualified facilitators and utilize our innovative arts-based peace education model that incorporates diversity training, multicultural education and training in non-violence. The sessions are aimed at decreasing the amount of interpersonal violence in the lives of our youth participants, enabling them to make healthy, holistic, responsible, and positive choices. We have recently produced a concert series called “Common Folk: Voices of a Movement,” which is meant to inspire healthy dialogue around critical social issues and inspire reflection on how to build a nonviolent culture. In 2010, “Voices of a Movement” highlighted three hot-button issues, which concern our world today: health, the environment and immigration. We have catalogued selected performances in an audio CD compilation that features tracks from artists who performed at the events as well as other D.C. musicians with songs relating to our issues of health, the environment and immigration. The compilation is composed of songs with a positive message, which can serve as a rich educational source of music for youth.
This CD was released in December 2010 at our “10 Year Anniversary Celebration and Showcase,” in conjunction with our third annual “Common Folk” awards, which celebrate the work of ordinary people who contribute to the community. After such a successful concert series, we are strengthening our efforts in 2011 by hosting monthly “Voices of a Movement” concerts at the prominent D.C. venue Busboys and Poets.
Lastly, the youth filmmaking program “A Nu View” is finalizing its second documentary film, which deals with the depressed states of Martin Luther King Boulevards across the nation. The trailer for the film was selected for and screened at the VONY Film Festival in New York City this past summer and was featured in multiple news sources around Dr. King’s birthday this January, including CNN, the BBC and the Washington Post. We will be premiering the documentary in Washington, D.C. at the end of this year.
Geographic Areas:
OCU programs and activities are primarily located in Washington, DC. Upon request, we facilitate workshops and events in schools located in Maryland and Virginia. The reach of our latest initiative, A NU View (more information below), although facilitated with Washington, DC youth, has been and will continue to impact a national audience. For example, our youth directed film from the summer of 2007 titled, “A Weigh with Words,” was screened in the spring and summer of 2008 at locations around the nation, such as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Problems to Address:
The abundance of negative information and media has made it increasingly difficult for young people to understand that they have choices other than violence, materialism, and selfishness. The unfortunate pessimism from both older and younger generations is a barrier that must be hurdled in order to transform our violence torn communities. The pessimism is a result of many factors, such as uninspiring education systems, the media’s consistent focus on what is happening wrong (instead of what is happening right), and a general feeling that there is little we can individually do to make a difference.
The OCU Approach:
OCU focuses on teaching people how to create media, arts, and music that reflect the stories of those working diligently to create communities which honor and respect one another and understand our inherent equality and interdependence. OCU believes violence is a learned behavior, and therefore, if someone can be taught violence, they can also be taught compassion, cooperation, and the skills necessary to create healthy and mutually beneficial relationships. For 10 years OCU has successfully created spaces to transform the lives of youth and families. Through arts-based peace workshops in schools, and summer youth initiatives, we have assisted young people in telling their stories and sharing them with others.
