Quantcast

Cardi B visits youth development initiatives in Brownsville

Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist and Bronx native Cardi B made an appearance in Brownsville over the weekend, where she stopped by various community events hosted by Community Capacity Development, a human justice organization, and CAMBA, a nonprofit initiative focused on neighborhood development.

According to K. Bain, CCD’s executive director, Cardi reached out to his office to become a human justice advocate and educate herself on the work of human justice movements in the city.

The famous hip-hop artists travelled in both Queens and Brooklyn this past weekend and attended various back to school events.
Cardi B made appearances in both Brooklyn and Queens this past weekend, attending various back-to-school events and community givebacks.Photo courtesy of Community Capacity Development

During the phone call, Bain told Brooklyn Paper he invited Cardi to travel around the boroughs and witness the youth programs first-hand. Over the weekend of Sept. 10, he took the artist to various back-to-school events, music programs and a girls basketball game in Brownsville, where she met some of the young people Bain’s program mentors.

“This program was an example of the work that we do around the city of New York with the ‘highest risk’ young people in neighborhoods that have been disinvested in for generations,” Bain said of the basketball game.

Cardi B, grammy award winning rapper, returns to the city to learn more about human justice organizations.
Cardi B returned to the city to learn more about human justice organizations. Photo courtesy of CCD

The celebrity commended the two offices for creating opportunities for youth development in marginalized communities — and Bain said she’ll return this week to take organizers to the Bronx where she was raised.

The executive director believes Cardi’s childhood upbringing allows her to connect with the kids more authentically.

“A lot of the times she’s relating to them because of her experience growing up in housing developments, growing up in the poverty that we work and provide services in. She’s very comfortable and familiar with [it],” Bain said. “Cardi is a real model, meaning someone that’s been through the bumps and bruises associated with survival behaviors but has come out the other side of that adversity with a message that’s built on truth, honesty and authenticity.”

K. Bain, executive director for CCD, says the rapper related to the kids at the program in an authentic way.
K. Bain, CCD’s executive director, said Cardi B related to the kids his organization mentors in an authentic way due to her being from the Bronx. Photo courtesy of CCD.

CCD started as an anti-gun violence task force in 2012 by now-Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Today, the group works year-round to provide community programs for people of all ages in all five boroughs.

The group takes what Bain calls a “holistic approach to social justice” by investing in areas with disadvantaged or marginalized communities. Similarly, Brooklyn-based CAMBA provides social services to New Yorkers in need.