Tag Archives: children

KidBreak

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If someone asked me to talk about the culture of the history of the Bronx using one word, it would be breaking. Breaking sums up the constant movement of the people of the Bronx, the joy they find in the trails of moving and finally, its a dance style that first originated in the Bronx!

As a poet and writer, there is so much I can pull out from the word breaking when talking about my people in the Bronx; weather we are discussing Kelling’s 1982 Broken Window Theory or the amount of families that have been broken up due to the harsh housing conditions or if we are discussing perseverance, joy and happiness. Which on that note, the people of the Bronx like to dance through it all! Despite the social condition, the people of the Bronx, find ways to get joy and dance has been a prayer answered.

Its strange. This word. Its strange how the broken window theory came from one sector and dancing came from another but both are built on the same term and in some cases used to define people of the Bronx.

Its even more strange that gentrification has changed the layout of the Bronx and capitalism has changed the nature of breaking; yet the people of the Bronx continue to hold on to its roots and continue to dance. Parents continue to pass on the love of music, dance and history to their children. Churches still hold fiery worship services where souls come and dance into the heat of the night, bars and restaurants still hold jam sessions with live musicians, and community centers still host dance classes where the elders, some who learned dance in the streets, now teach the children using their own pedagogy.

And to prove that the Bronx is still dance, there children born and raised in the Bronx are now on worldwide stages. Today I met Fred, a parent of a children who loves to break. I listened to Fred tell the story of how he and his wife raised their children to also be immersed in the culture of the Bronx, and was intrigued. Fred’s story I noticed didn’t dwell in the past but in the future which was what made his delivery impressive. His son, Kidbreak, stood next to him and shared his experience of what it meant to be a breaker now.

As a child, KidBreak, gained early local recognition. He was taught by breakdancer, Rokafella, (who I interviewed some years ago) and Rokafella’s husband, Kwikstep. KidBreak was seen as a young prodigy, dancing in public spaces in New York City. Today, he’s seventeen and from what I gathered is not only an encaptivating dancer; he has a wonderful personality. He won the Red Bull BC One Cypher New York 2025 competition at just 16 years old and the photo below is featured in the Bronx Museum of History exhibition titled, When the Bronx Moved.

His parents, who grew up in New York City, remembers the time when the people of the Bronx moved and they honor that time. Fred, his father, who grew up in the Bronx, and his mom, Jessica, who grew up in the lower east side, gave Kidbreak the name KidBreak as a nod to the artist Nas who was a boogie boy as a child. Nas’s name was Kidwave thus Kidbreak. Fred and Jessica are immersed in the culture and history of the Bronx. They don’t travel far to give their children the best of the Bronx.

The same way parents line up at Wynton Marsalis Lincoln Center Studio so their children can learn jazz, is the same way Fred and Jessica of the Bronx seek the best educators for their children so the very essence of the culture can stay alive. Fred and Jessica are an example of how parents in the Bronx see the value in their own culture, their own selves and most of all, their own children.

I asked Kid Break a few questions about his career and here is what he shared:

How long have you been breaking? I’ve been dancing for13 years.

How old are you? I am 17 years old.

How does dance look for you in the future?

I don’t really look too much into the future when it comes to things, I’m more worried about what’s going on now.
In my life, I focus on stuff that I need to focus on. But if I would have to think about the future, I think breaking would be in a good place, especially when it comes to the competition level, but I just feel like we just need to be a little bit more united and respected, when it just comes to things in general.


You said you didn’t really think about the future around breaking.
But how do you think about the future of your career and your education? What do you imagine doing? And is breaking part of that?

I imagine breaking being my livelihood.
I already been doing it for 13 years, so I like doing it, I love breaking, it’s brought me across the world. I’ve got a lot of amazing, opportunities. So I’ve just been thinking about that.
I hadn’t really thought too much about, like, college and stuff, but if it does come to that, I was thinking more about, fashion. When it comes to like clothes and stuff, I feel like it might be the best thing for me. I don’t really want to go to college and just like, go for something random that I don’t like because then it’ll just be a waste of my time.

You started dancing when you were five years old. What would you say to that five year old today?

I don’t really know. I think the five year old me will still have the same mentality.
I really liked breaking back then and I still like it now, so just tell five year old me to keep doing it. I guess.

To watch a small clip of Kid Break dancing click here and to watch a video of him competing, click here.

Art as a Happy & Calm Space

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Me with Illustrators Selina Alko, Nina Cruz, Pat Cummings, and Steven Savage

I went to an event last night and met a childhood star, Illustrator Pat Cummings, along with contemporary book artist: Nina Cruz, Selina Alko and Steven Savage.

Pat Cummings, just like Eloise Greenfield, is a heroine for all Black children. Their poems, narratives, art and dedication to the literary world for children of color is on an even higher status than The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. For, while The Very Hungry Caterpillar, introduced children all over the world to colors and counting; they introduced forgotten Black children (all over the world) to the world of books and self representation (along with their many contemporaries). Thus, when I saw Pat Cummings on the program, I made sure to clear my schedule and attend.

smiling with Pro. Andera Davis Pinkney (with an old Pat Cummings book in my hand that I got signed!)

Professor Andera Davis Pinkney was the moderator and started off by asking each illustrator to tell about themselves. Each illustrator pulled up beautiful books they illustrated and shared their art process. Selina Alko, a journalist like me, shared the most breathtaking journal. She created full page collages for each spread in an old journal. I watched in awe as she only showed us three spreads (it ended too soon!) and then showed us her images in her children’s book about Joni Mitchell.

I remember thinking, who is Joni Mitchell and I scanned the room and it seemed like everyone knew Joni. Little did I know I was about to find out….in class that night. (One of my classmates, Paige, spoke about a book she read and the book began with the character listening to a sad song by Joni Mitchell- then Paige spoke about feeling even more connected to the book because she also enjoyed Joni Mitchell).

Nina Cruz shared her books and spoke about digital art. I never saw her work even though I read books by her father Donald Cruz. She shared a book she wrote that I could have used last year when I did a fourth grade lesson on Richard Wright. She also shared a new book she is working on for older children entitled, Liftoff: How the Apollo Moon Mission made Alma Thomas’s art Soar. Then, the name Alma Thomas didn’t ring any bells but as I am writing I realize Alma Thomas is a favorite artist of one of my best friends.

The next to speak was Pat Cummings and she spoke with joy. Her voice was that of a visit to a favorite aunt’s house. Her anecdotes made everything about the event, homely. At one point, when I turned around laughing, another person in the audience caught my eye and while others settled down we continued to laugh. The following are pointers she shared with us for artist and writers who want to get their work published:

  1. Remember, Expression is Everything, little kids read people faces and body language,
  2. make every character in the book think they are the star of the book,
  3. build a world around the character,
  4. THINK, Surprise yourself and finally make it personal.

Lastly, we met Steven Savage who shared his clean and simple illustrations. He said he is wired by the “less is more” motto and ended his introduction by saying “My art is meant to be my happy, clean, calm space.”

“Wow!” I thought, “Imagine? Art as a job and also a happy, clean, calm space. What a thought!

Joy, all Grown Up, in her own Space

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I ran into Joy Paige, a former student of mine who is now in her third year in college.

Of all the things I remember about Joy, I remember how she used to speak. She did so with noticeable space between her words. I remember when I taught her class about heartburn ( it was a health and nutrition lesson) and at the end of the lesson she acted out the symptoms of having heartburn and asked to go home immediately. Her speech was with the the perfect timing. While her acting was perfect, her request fell on death ears. I knew the tricks of a six year old.

When I ran into her as an adult, I listened to her speaking and I couldn’t help to notice that she spoke the same- with clarity- only this time it included touching her hair and an occasional hum or smacking sound. However her tone was the same. It was a strange observation!

When she filled me in on her success, she said verbatim:

So, yeah (hum), I am in my junior year of college (smack).

And I thought, you are picking up a lot up there at college- including a different way to speak- literally.

It would be something to run into her ten years from now and see if the space is still filled with hair touching, smacking and a hum.