Lost Lyrics believes that in order create a world you want, you must take a stand. We are a mobile and innovative learning incubator that empowers thousands of young people to create a bridge of knowledge between the streets and the classroom. We locate critical self-empowerment as an integral component to the learning experience. Students define the curriculum and create a positive and reflective
self-image while having fun using arts-based tools of education. What really sustains Lost Lyrics is our local and international programming where communities express and produce new ways of challenging the status quo through the critique of mainstream media, sharing new information within their peer circles, and speaking back to the banking system of education. Together we rise and fight for the creation of a better world where we have no choice but to take a stand. What We Do:
The manifestation of this philosophy can be found in our current programming:
The Blueprint After-School Program:
In the Blueprint After-School Program, we engage critical themes of fluctuating self- identity with students between the ages of 11-15 in the communities of Malvern and Jane-Finch. We have engaged themes such as sexuality, art as disruption, hood politics, global Hip Hop activism, the politics of drugs and the roots of beauty ideals. For More Info please contact Natasha Daniel at [email protected]
Artistic Development:
In Artistic Development, students receive the opportunity to articulate the themes of the program through tangible artistic channels such as rap, recording, photography, film and visual arts. These sessions bring together both students from the Eastside of the city (Malvern) and the Westside of the city (Jane-Finch) to the downtown core. For More Info please contact Natasha Daniel at [email protected]
The OG’s - Original Griots:
The Original Griots is an internship program for the older students of Lost Lyrics who have grown up with Lost Lyrics and are now interested in translating and expanding their knowledge into tangible skills. Internships are available as assistant facilitators, assistant designers, social media interns and curriculum development interns. For More Info please contact Natasha Daniel at [email protected]
The Live Report Card
The Live Report Card is an annual event where our students as artists and advocates creatively share the knowledge they gain in Lost Lyrics programs with the community. The students host and manage the event as well as construct and perform various pieces that they design, choreograph, and produce. They utilize theatre, poetry, stepping, rap, song, photography, visual arts and breakdancing to educate the community members who attend, which often includes their teachers, families, friends and the larger Lost Lyrics community. For More Info please contact Natasha Daniel at [email protected]
Lost Lyrics Travelling Workshops:
For the past four years, Lost Lyrics has been invited by various community partners to conduct workshops on topics such as the hidden stories of Canadian history, sexuality, the roots of beauty ideals, criminalization and Hip Hop culture. Our most recent project, The Each One, Teach One Workshop Series, is a partnership between Lost Lyrics and some of the most exciting, educated and emerging artists in Toronto. The series will introduce the work of these artists to students in classrooms throughout the city of Toronto and come with an accompanying workshop and curriculum – designed and/or evaluated by Lost Lyrics students. Some of these themes will include but are not limited to: body image, gender identity, hood politics and ancestral legacies. For More Info please contact Amanda Parris at [email protected]
Lost Lyrics One Mic Speaker Series:
Over the past four years, Lost Lyrics co-innovators Natasha Daniel and Amanda Parris have been invited to participate on panels and deliver keynote addresses at conferences, schools and community centers around the city of Toronto as well as around the world on their methodologies, case studies and perspectives. Examples include but are not limited to:
- Keynote Address at the City of Toronto Ignite N’ Impact Youth Awards (2010)
- Keynote Address at the Centennial College Global Citizenship Symposium (2010)
- Panelist at the United Nations Habitat Your City Summit in Durban, South Africa (2008)
- Presentation at the Organization of America States Ignite the America's Youth Arts Policy Forum (2008)
For more Info please contact Amanda Parris at [email protected]
Lost Lyrics On Tour:
Since their debut at the It’s Bigger than Hip Hop Show at York University in 2007, Lost Lyrics students have been requested to perform at numerous events around the city, allowing them to bring their lessons to audiences from diverse backgrounds, perspectives and ages. Examples of performances include but are not limited to:
- The Black Youth Coalition against Violence B.L.I.N.G. Summit (2007)
- No one is Illegal May Day Rally (2007 and 2008)
- 106&York Artist Showcase (2009 and 2010)
- MuchMusic’s RapCity (2011)
For More Info please contact Amanda Parris at [email protected]
Lost Lyrics Curriculum
In the summer of 2007, as we explored ideas of how to continue the program, we also took this time to put our ideas to paper by writing an extensive curriculum inspired by the original students of the program and the activities we had created with them. We sought support from various youth artists in the writing of this curriculum and it has since been used as a resource to help shape other community programs such as Front-Line Youth (FLY) Program in Toronto, La Familia Ayara in Bogota, Colombia and an upcoming alternative education program for youth in Doha, Qatar. We are currently in the process of once again documenting our work through the creation of a new curriculum. We have been working with our students to pull together activities, discussions, and their artistic creations from the program. We are hoping that this curriculum will not only be a tool for other grassroots organizations but also an academic resource that will illustrate the possibilities of engaging young people as critically minded agents of social change. For More Info please contact Amanda Parris at [email protected]
Projects Created in Partnership
Rap Opera Production (2008)
In the summer of 2008 Lost Lyrics partnered with Artistic Effusion and Aluna Theatre to put together a Hip Hop musical. The premise of the initiative was to engage the poetry of rebellion inherent to Hip Hop with the theatre of rebellion that has inspired opera through improvisational theatre and music. Participants from Jane-Finch and Malvern were mentored by the students of Artistic Effusion and Colombian director Carlos Eduardo Satizabal to put together a final production which was presented in June of 2008 at the Harbourfront centre. Each One, Teach One: A Womban’s Story (2008-2009):
In the fall of 2008 Lost Lyrics in partnership with Gashanti Unity conceived a vision to develop a storytelling program that would bring together young women of colour whose shared experiences were the fundamental building blocks to a movement of progressive, empowered, community educators. We specifically targeted young women of colour between the ages of 18-30 from all over the city whose experiences of exclusion from formal systems of education, employment, politics, etc. mirrored the motivational resources that conspired to create movements such as Lost Lyrics and Gashanti Unity. Big love to our amazing team:
Co-Founders:
Natasha Daniel (Programming Director)
Amanda Parris (Managing Director)
Artistic Development Coordinator:
Lisa Sookhoo
Recording Studio Coordinator:
Mohanza "Obie" Kelly
Facilitators: Sun aka TheRealSun, Quentin Vercetty and Rich Kidd
In House Designer: Nadijah Robinson
Youth Interns: Jellion and Ashley
Ruff Ryder Volunteers: Muginga Antonio and Thelma Matter
and of course Mama Hood Catering!!!
