Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to RASHARD DOBBINS. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi RASHARD, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Class Act Detroit was born from abundance and the realization of the lack in BIPOC households and neighborhoods of color. As an educator and former talent agent, I discovered that most scholars in our nation’s urban core are talented and influential beyond all measures; however, they typically need a stage or mentor/femtor to realize their power. My former cofounder and I saw an opportunity at a school that we were teaching at to begin providing culturally relevant afterschool programming to scholars in the area. Let’s say it was a big hit! What set us apart from other organizations that do arts and culture programming and mentorship was the fact that we were unapologetically hip-hop and that we started with kids as young as kinder and first grade. We also understood the power of Community and Family. I’m a connector and the type of educator that gets all up in your business and aims to become family with the children/families that I serve. So launching a nonprofit in a house in true Detroit/Motown fashion was not a hard decision. Within a year, we fully furnished the place where we founded and converted each room into a studio or engagement area for the community. Thus, successfully transforming a house into an opportunity hub. What excited me the most was the success that we had prior with families and students’ behavior and performance after school. Still, also it was the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. By the summer of 2017, I realized that as a male educator of color, I could duplicate my success and pedagogy via after-school programming and avoid the red tape that often got in the way of responsive programming and community listening sessions. That was important to me because I had seen the positive effects of hip-hop ed from the moment I stepped into the classroom. Furthermore, I wouldn’t say I liked the education I had growing up because it was boring, it wasn’t relevant to me, and it didn’t connect with my reality or to what I knew about the world as an overexposed adolescent who was also learning himself. What I’m most proud of is that we always Empowered our scholars and their families to lead and take the initiative and support them with the resources. You know, we’ve always believed that communities have what they need to solve their issues, and I’m very fortunate and grateful that I’m qualified for my calling to be able to help prepare a stage and turn on the lights or push the recording button for some of the nations most talented children.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

For those who don’t know me yet, I would say that I am a hip-hop head educator, entertainer, and gentleman that is dedicated to racial healing and equity who decided to create a nonprofit that reflects the innate power and highlights the talents of children, creatives, and families of color in our nations urban core during after school time. In 2017 I founded a nonprofit in a house in true Detroit fashion And converted every room into a community-based studio or engagement area accessible for public use. Today our organization owns a commercial building just off W. Grand Blvd [the street where Motown was founded]. That is being re-mixed into a hip-hop cultural hub and incubator in Detroit. What I want folks to know about our brand and our mission is that we are incredibly pro-BIPOC families, children, and hip-hop culture. We are about intergenerational exchange and generational change. We believe that hip-hop is a tool that can save and empower people of color and those who have had their voices, bodies, and cultures silenced worldwide.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I could do this list all day!

However my book starter kit would be the war of art by Steven Pressfield, The Talent code and culture code by Daniel Coyle. The four agreements, the alchemist, and How to be an anti-racist/Stamped by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

Movies/ Media
What’s Going On? – Marvin Gaye
Black on Both Sides – Mos Def
Extension of a man- Donny Hathaway
Optimistic – Sounds of Blackness
Ain’t Stressin’ today – Dear Silas
As- Stevie Wonder

The Black Power Mixtape
Hidden Colors
Black in Latin America -Dr. Henry Louis Gates
Assume the position – Robert Wuhl
I Want to Thank You, Don Blackmon’s Holding You, Loving You, Slum Village, ‘Fantastic Vol. 2,’ J Dilla/Jay Dee ‘Welcome To Detroit,’ Stevie Wonder’s, ‘Songs in the Key of Life,’ and Boom – Royce Da 5’9”

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I would say what demonstrates my resilience the most is my journey from elementary school all the way through college. In middle school, my family and I moved one to two times a year, so it wasn’t until my third high school, when I was super close to graduating, that I finally felt like I hit my stride As an academic. Of course, looking back, that makes perfect sense because we were stable for a few years, and it allowed me to work toward self-actualization. However, as soon as I graduated, we lost and were kicked out of our home; as a first-generation college student who didn’t have much guidance or support financially, that put me behind compared to my peers. However, I never gave up. I began working a few jobs and started going to online and night school until I was able to find a school that was affordable for me to go to full-time. Once I was accepted it, I would gain an on-campus job and go on to graduate summa cum laude. The road to my bachelor’s was somewhat similar. I worked about 3 to 4 jobs during that time and took the city bus However it still resulted with me, graduating at the top of my class.

Contact Info:

• Website: WWW.CLASSACTDETROIT.ORG
• Instagram: @CLASSACTDETROIT
• Facebook: @CLASSACTDETROIT
• Linkedin: @CLASSACTDETROIT
• Youtube: @CLASSACTDETROIT

Image Credits
Microsoft – Class Act Detroit Private Screening of ‘Black Panther.’