HARTFORD, Conn. — Hartford’s Proud Drill, Drum & Dance Corp hosted the 5th Annual East Coast Explosion competition, an event aimed at stopping violence in the community. Dancers and drummers came together at Keney Park Saturday to show off their skills.
“It kind of brings awareness to what’s going on around us. I like to be able to walk around the street feeling safe so Hartford proud has really been giving me the confidence to do that,” Destine Dawson, co-captain of New Era Percussion, said.
Dawson lives in the North End and told FOX61 his dream is to continue drum line in college.
“After high school, I want to attend Cold Steel North Carolina A&T State University. That’s my dream. That’s been my dream since 6 and hopefully I can achieve that,” Dawson said.
Beyond sharing a passion for music and artistic expression, the Corp aims to give kids skills they can use for life.
“One of our biggest goals is to get kids off the streets and to make sure that they’re very well educated,” Ellender Mathis with Hartford’s Proud Drill, Drum & Dance Corp said. “They also learn discipline, the learn to get along with others, they definitely learn no violence.”
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The goal of stopping the violence hits home for members of the program. Seventeen-year-old Usher Hanns, who was a drummer, was killed in a shooting in September of 2019.
“We lose a drummer or a driller in the streets, or something like that, it is hard on us because when we take the kids on, they are our family,” Mathis said.
The program continues on to reach more youth, starting as early as age four. Mathis said they hope to help students all the way through college.
For more about the program click here: https://hartfordsproud.org.
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