Maya Gwynn
With KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn with Black Perspectives IE, a show where we learn about the amazing things members of the Black community are doing in the Inland Empire. My guest today is Sharron Lewis, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Empower You Edutainment. Thank you so much for being here, Sharron.
Sharron Lewis
I'm glad to be here. Thank you for the invite.
Maya Gwynn
So let's start at the beginning. Could you share your background in the performing arts and explain when you first recognized the positive impact that performing can have on kids and teens and adults too?
Sharron Lewis
I started out in college. My goal was to be a educator and teacher, and I love the arts. The arts is what just kept me going get my GPA, right? And when I graduated, I was able to get a teaching job in Riverside, because I'm from the Compton area, LA and I graduated from UCR, University of California Riverside. And then so my first teaching job, I was teaching kids how to read in middle school. And the principal noticed that after school, I had all these kids staying and we were doing dance and acting, that kind of thing. And so he told me my second year that it was a theater opening at the high school, and he really felt that I was a fit for that job. And I got the job at Norte Vista High School and I loved it. We put on The Wiz, and that was, you know, basically my introduction, getting into the theater, other than the place that I was in in college, and theater acting, performing period is my love.
Maya Gwynn
When did you realize it can have a positive effect, performing on kids and teens?
Sharron Lewis
I knew right away. When I was at UCR I had the opportunity to work at an elementary school, but I was teaching the kids, you know, the tutoring at Emerson Elementary School, and these kids was not really feeling the academics part and I said, I gotta get something going. So I started a little dance group with them called the Little Sisters hip hop, and I noticed then how they were doing what they needed to do, because in order for them to be in my program, they had to do well in tutoring. So I noticed then that they jumped and they was enjoying learning, but they also had a purpose for learning and using the arts to drive that purpose has been my life goal. Because I noticed that when kids, especially African American kids, and other kids in marginalized communities, they are not really a lot of time exposed to the art, and I found that the art was a phenomenal tool to use to just empower them. And not to say that you're empowering them from Hollywood or to be on stage professionally, but you're empowering them to know that they are valued. They need to be heard. They need to be seen, and use their voices for them to be able to be all that they are destined to be.
Maya Gwynn
What is the mission of Empower You Edutainment, and what are the some of the services that you offer and you would like to highlight?
Sharron Lewis
We empower our community through the arts, but we don't limit ourselves to like, okay, we're gonna do a play. No, what about economic development? You know, what can we do to empower them? So therefore, we do workshops, but we do our workshops in a creative way. You're gonna have some music, you're going to have some spoken word, and then you're gonna have whatever the topic is. We offer like, for example, I have a young artist that has been doing something called Acting with the Camera, and she has a summer program for our African American kids. And any kid could come, but that's the focus with them, and to give them a chance to get together and empower them. You know, because a lot of times within the school setting, African American kids, they used to be really, really creative. They're still creative. But sometimes they're holding back. Then they're not feeling that maybe their voice is going to be valued. They just lay back and just watch, you know. Right now, I'm involved in Riverside Unified School District, a partnership with them. We spent a week in the school. Within that week, we're going to have a program. It's called Hidden Legacy. When you're dealing with kids and you're dealing with history, and you're bringing in costumes that they're going to wear and stuff - for example, Jane Baldwin, she graduated from Yale University, first African American woman to do that in 1931. By 1939, she was the first African American judge. So when I'm talking to kids, we putting together, and they see her picture, I said, "Who wants to be Jane Baldwin?" All of them raised their hand and in Riverside, school is very diverse. And so we all are doing this together. And then at the end the kids make comments. And the kids said, "We're working together, and it doesn't matter our color, we could be Jane Baldwin. We could be..."these are things that they're picking up. "I could be Charles Drew." Because we're bringing in astronaut outfits they put on, and so at the end of each week, the kids can talk about what their legacy is going to be, what they're going to leave behind. That's empowerment. When the kids are in power, you're also giving a message to the parent. It motivates them as well. You know what I used to motivate me is the Harlem Renaissance, when Langston Hughes and all of them were doing their thing, they were creating a space of keeping people sane in the insane world. You know, lynching, all these things was going on, but the arts, they were able to express that, so they laid down the history for the next generation. And so I think that that's my driving force with people I work with.
Maya Gwynn
And so we're gonna move to our rapid fire portion. So if your work had a theme song, what would it be?
Maya Gwynn
If you had to teach a master class or give a TED Talk on a random skill that you have, it could be something serious or silly. What would it be?
Sharron Lewis
Curtis Mayfield had a song called "Keep on Pushing". That would be my theme song. Keep on pushing. No matter what.
Sharron Lewis
I would do one in art, because I don't have the talent there. And I found out in life, sometime is good to get out of your comfort zone so that you can grow. So art is something that's mmm mm, but doing a class like that would be very challenging, but it also would give me a chance to to move out of my comfort zone.
Maya Gwynn
For sure, and build empathy. What is your favorite Inland Empire restaurant? Or a landmark that reminds you of the Inland Empire?
Sharron Lewis
I like Grams. It's located in Riverside. It's a barbecue joint. I like stories behind that. The father had to fight the city of Riverside in order to exist, because, you know, barbecue, it has that smell. And a lot of people in the downtown community didn't like that. So they negotiated that. Said, Okay, we'll move you, you know. And so he was very, No, no, no, you're not going to move me there. I'm on the Main Street, and I have to have a place that people still can find me. And so that's a legacy he left. I like that.
Maya Gwynn
And how can people support you and keep up with your work?
Sharron Lewis
Well, we have a website. Google Empower You Edutainment, because I do it all the time to see what's going on. And it gets you there. You could like us on Facebook. We have Instagram.
Maya Gwynn
Thank you so much for being here today, Sharron,.
Sharron Lewis
Thank you for having me.
Maya Gwynn
Sharron Lewis is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Empower You Edutainment. Support for this segment comes from the Black Equity Fund at IECF, advancing racial equity and supporting long term investments in black led organizations in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Join us again next week for Black Perspectives IE. For KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn. Thank you.
