Warning youth about diabetes through hip-hop music
After John Henhawk graduated with a business degree from Brock University last year, he faced a crisis: try to make lots of money or use his talents to help his people.
He chose the latter, but never imagined he’d do it through music.
Henhawk, 25, is Haudenosaunee, or as he calls himself, one of the People of the Longhouse. After finishing an honours degree in October 2009 in business administration in just three years, he had some hard decisions to make.
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Henhawk had to work, but he didn’t want to distract himself by taking on something for the short term. A friend suggested he seek the Creator’s guidance, and Henhawk prayed by ritually burning tobacco.
“And then this job came to me,” Henhawk says.
He’s now youth project coordinator for the Southern Ontario Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative. The province funds the agency to provide programs and services to Aboriginal communities, which have rates of diabetes three to five times the national average.
His job is to oversee the production of a hip-hop album that lays bare the deadly effects of diabetes on Aboriginal people. Henhawk has posted videos of the making of the album on YouTube.
The article goes on and names a number of groups that are involved in using music and medicine to promote healing and wellness. You can read the entire news article here.
