"The Tanzanian Arts Council has recognized rap as an official genre within Tanzania's pop music, and urges young rappers to use their lyrics to discuss society's problems, such as drugs, sexual abuse and lack of education. However, the driving forces are still the members of the hip-hop community; the recent popularity of rap music has enabled them to organize themselves more successfully." To read more about Hiphop in Tanzania, check out http://www.tanserve.com/culture/Local_hiphop.html.

Artists for Humanity—“AFH tackles the myriad of problems youth face today with tremendous impact. We celebrate the talents and wonderful energy of young people by giving them hands-on experiences in creativity, business, teamwork, and self-governance. Participants learn the techniques and tools of professional artists and the business world while engaging in education, employment, artistic exploration, and entrepreneurial experience. This produces life-transforming change for youth and for their communities.” For more information about this Boston-based youth project, go to http://www.afhboston.com.

East Palo Alto Mural Art Project—“The East Palo Alto Mural Art Project is an arts-based youth development organization creating a series of professional murals at Ravenswood District Schools. The Mural Project is committed to preserving the unique cultural heritage of the East Palo Alto community through public art. Our goal is to educate, inspire, and empower local teens by teaching community history. Our mission is connect the practice of mural making to positive youth outcomes, risk reduction, and to provide evidence of teens as a positive resource for their community.” Peep their site at http://www.epamap.org.

Art Sanctuary—“Art Sanctuary, located in North Philadelphia, uses the power of black art to transform individuals, unite groups of people, and enrich and draw inspiration from the inner city… Our model has been to start each phase on a shoestring, with volunteers, part-time helpers here and there, and advisors in addition to our director-which is fine to start. It's too much, too ambitious, and growing too fast to sustain at that level, of course, but the best way we've found to get the wider community to see and believe the excellence that can spring up in North Philadelphia-and help nourish a region.” Learn more about Art Sanctuary at http://www.artsanctuary.org.

Art Start—“We connect with kids who are denied access to a nurturing education, a supportive home environment and promising work opportunities. Our kids are shut out. They contend with economic brutality, racism and neglect every day, and get pinned with harsh labels like ‘homeless,’ ‘dropout,’ ‘thug’ and worse. They would rather shape their own identities. They are strong, resilient, open-minded, talented and full of dreams. They yearn to be participants, to make meaningful contributions. Art Start uses the arts to spark their lives to the possibilities of ‘making it.’ We give them tools and opportunities, and most important, a chance to be heard.” Make sure these kids are heard—check out http://www.art-start.org.