We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Destinee Verduzco a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Destinee, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I started a project that I hoped would be an opportunity to give back to kids who had the passion for dance and the curiosity of the Hip Hop culture. Growing up my dad and his 6 brothers all practiced the culture, from Graffiti, DJing, MCing and most of all Breaking. I was mad in love with it. I always wished someone would take me under their wing and teach me. I was a very clumsy and energetic kid. I don’t think my uncles or dad had the patience to teach me. Before I was old enough to be a little more focussed, my dad was deported infront of me. So I never got the chance to learn from him. He is still in Mexico and our connection is not very, but we do share the love of the Hip Hop culture.

Growing up I would just pick up things I saw around me. Graffiti letter and and rap freestyle was attractive to me. I just wanted to do it all the time. I practiced my style in my school books more then I my homework. My cousin and I would write on park benches and jump the fences at night to go write. I started parting in pretty young with my sisters and cousin, we would battle rap at house parties. It wasn’t safe for sure, but here was no other constructive way to really entertain us. My mom was a single mother with 5 kids and multiple jobs. She didn’t even know we would be out all the time. She couldn’t put us into sports or extra curricular. So what else could we do. House parties and drawing was all I had. Our cities weren’t really the safest.

Growing up In Modesto and Ceres friends were dying and girls were dropping out of school to raise babies. I knew I had to get out. So I finished High school. Not something a lot of my family members were able to do, but I did it and I went to college. I was so bored and had no interest in learning what ever they were teaching me. I also had a learning disability I found out in college that makes it really hard to retain reading information. I wasn’t dancing, drawing or write rhymes any more. Life was kind of like dry unseasoned chicken for a minute.

One days my husband tells me, “Why don’t you be a teacher?” So I quite my retail job and started pursuing teaching jobs and training opportunities. I even started dancing again, I found Culture Shock SD online and joined their scholarship program and met some of my most trusted friends and mentors. Through CS I found a lively Hip Hop community. I found my way back into graffiti, where the community really support my art and I’ve meet so many dope SD writers. I feel at home here.

In 2016 I started thinking about giving back to kids in a bigger way. In 2021, I put both of my passions together, for teaching and Hip Hop. At first we were this small little monthly session and with the support of our community we became a movement, by not only hosting workshops and battles. Also by encouraging and supporting one other. We brought our community together pass on our knowledge and experiences to the next generations. We run as a non profit, but we are much more than that. We have been able to give back to kids who shared our same passion for this culture. So that the next generations has an outlet and a community to protect them. We come together, so that the next generation have a community that protects and encourages them through the Hip Hop and Freestyle culture.

We are Youth Sessions.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Youth Sessions came to be because people in our community cared about the next generation and wanted to do more for them. Hip Hop and freestyle culture is what we love and it is who we are. We choose to pass it down the the next generation is keep these traditions alive. Whether it is breaking, pooping, waacking, krump or graffiti, we all have something to share. We provide families with a space they can release, express, learn, make connections, feel protected, gain leadership skills, confidence and most importantly a community. Youth Sessions is just a small part of a bigger community not only in San Diego but in the nation. It is the culture of Hip Hop and Freestyle. We hope to bring families and small business together in this contagious atmosphere of music, art and dance.

In Hip Hop we support one another by sharing each others ambitions. If you are a start up printing t-shirts, or starting your own brand name, or even baking deserts. We lift each other up at our events, or through word of mouth and more. Thats how it has always been.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part about Youth Sessions is to see our community and families come together to help these kids not only feel loved and safe, but to encourage their growth. Building them up to be all they wish to be and more.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Ted Talks all day. There was a really great Ted talk that I love to reference. Not only is about academic success, but enfaces Hip Hop as a means to empower our students. It is called, “Hip Hop Grit.” by Bettina Love at TEDxUSG. If you are an educator or a mentor and you want to connect with our youth. Check this women out. She speaks bars.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youthsessions.sd/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youthsessions.sd
• Other: https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/FIPBIxFacbJNnV3NzJFZYQ

Image Credits
@mtranphotography @Keepingup