good morning on the show this morning p olympic celebrates 40 years of theatrical wonderment. also an organization dedicated to find of fight to independent porty and gang violence and they extend a special invitation toll professionals to hem the cause, but up first another organization here that is focusing on empowering disadvantaged youth and adults, now the dignity institute was

to make the world a better place. but they also had a special gift called smart conversations, which they had used within the corporate world to help people who work together to feel the lover for each other, they also believed it was socially unjust to make it available to only private organizations. thuses was developed the concept of a it the dig city is institute. now, the institute t offers pits programming at low to no cost as they deliver smart conversations so that everybody human being has the opportunity to be treated with dignity and to reach their full potential. we've invited the founders of dignity institute, michele simos and her husband paul weisman. welcome to urban update. >> thank you very much.

describe what you guys do? >> you did an excellent job. >> because i didn't get to the reasons, we defer to the beautiful young lady. good move by the husband. >> very good move. well, there are many, many reasons, we were interested because we started hearing more and more about bullying, and of course that involves respect, and at the same time, we actually got involved with a youth in charleston who was a terrific kid. he worked account sailing center, and that many sailing center helping youths as well, and he got involved in a homicide. and that has never touched us that closely. so with that and the death of trayvon martin, i lived one mile from him. i grew up in new england but ilid in -- i lived in florida. so he was one mile from my

house. >> is itn't it weird and ironic sometimes how an incident that you never thought could spark not just an idea but in this case an organization and a movement? thank you for sharing that, now, paul, when did you realize that you had something special tosser with a broader audience. >> well, gosh, since we have been doing this, we've been getting that feedback that this is really special, they never thought about things this way, that it's changed my life. that i didn't realize how vulnerable i was to my trigger style, we call it. so we hear that all the time in the corporate world and we decided that as a result of some of the things that michelle just said that he need to do more. in fact, we wanted to get to our could. so we started moving in the direction of families and youth.

and here we are. and we also were waiting until our for profit business was so dramatically successful that we could pay for it ourself and we said well, that might might when. >> good for you, no time like the present. take me through some success stories and how some people's lives have been impacted institute. >> happy to do that. approximately one young man i call him the miniature sydney, he's 17 years old. he's an extraordinary spoken word poet. and he worked with me this paster at the huntington y and he's extraordinary and our rapper youth workers and this is

this youth worker has just he's worked just comes out of his soul and his heart. >> where most of those kids and families from? are they from the city of bottoms? -- boston? >> dorchester, rochester. >> i want to get a sense -- they say a photo's worth a thousand words. so i know we've got some photos. i know that young man on the left. actually he's not that young anymore. and what's going on here? >> that was our summer program. we were working with a group of eight-year-olds, and that was just a program that they brought in and we taught them leadership and life skills how we do that is we book in the program. we start in the concept i. they dance the between and we reflect on it at the end. >> you caulk talked about the summer program, right? >> yes. >> so why don't we -- there's a

video and i know we have some more kids there. look at those happy face, right? very diverse. but we've got a video. take me through disclosure we'll put it up and seventh element, i guess? >> yes. >> so what feelings come to mind when you see this stuff? >> resilience, and a lot of things kids is ptsd and to give them some time where they can just connect with their bodies, connect with themselves, dance and be happy is thrilling to me. >> and i see you do financial literacy, so it wasn't just all fun and these smart conversations as well. what is way? >> well, it really is about awe ten it isty, and the it's an acronym. authenticity and trust. >> didn't know that. >> and we translate that into how does that give youage

>> funny under o use the word give, because there's something called giving tuesday. i want to make sure we mention that. explain it briefly. what is this concept of giving tuesday? >> i'm going to defer to my -- better half. >> giving tuesday is something that was created about three years. it's worldwide and it follows black friday and cyber sunday. and so some people thought, why not give back, so we are part of that evidence and we are trying to raise $25,000 to put towards our program. >> now, folks can get more information on your general website. so i want to put the dignity institute general informs -- information for folks, and there is the website, when you go on that website you can't miss it. that's the kind of poo. and i saw this information on tuesday. >> yes, it is. >> it's todays from now. >> yes, it is. >> excellent.

great timing, thank you so much h keep up the good work in the name of so many people if the community. keep it up. >> i'm very impressed. all right. coming up next, an opportunity for professionals to you know the fight to he need generational poverty and gang violence. and all these details from an organization here in dorchester

it will fight to end generational urban poverty is not an easy one. now, an organization to join young people in the community. many who are in gangs, the view is to prepare students to progress in college and eventually in life. but college bound needs your help. and today they visit us to explain about an exciting opportunity for professionals to give back.

champions is a newly minted professional group to help connect networking and volunteering. to tell us more about it is the janelle woods-mcnish. and the also with us, jacquinn sinclair. welcome to urban update. >> i'm excited because i'm -- i was part of your great celebration this summer, i think it was awesome. the kids are great. i'm really a big fan. so when you told me about that, i said don't tell me anymore, just come on the air. so tell me about college bound. >> we're here to change and transform lives through community and education, and for me that's extremely important. i joined for a very selfish reason, i'm a first generation college student.

having my children grow up in a community where education and education. so for me it's a very, very selfish reason why i joined college bound and i love the work they're doing in transforming dorchester. >> and that's the key, transforming dorchester. >> i got involved because during the day i'm a public relations manager for a nonprofit real estate developer of mixed income housing and there are some intersections between the work work we do. we're in the business of transforming communities. we do it through housing as a platform for opportunity and college bound does it through education, so i thought it would wet . here? college bound champions, this is something knew. you're looking for professionals, maybe a little on the youngser side. >> yes, we're looking for advocates to help us with the

looking for people who want to get involved involved in community work. we found a way for them to be group. >> all right. , give me a profile, what's the type of person if they're watching now maybe, that you marker number. >> we're looking for young professionals and we want all of our champions to be passionate and driven, hopefully interested in mission driven work, and excited, just about changing communities and impacting youth. >> what what are some of the activities that you are going to have these young professionals engage? >> it's going to be networking. it will be a great way the connect with people you may not know. >> a lot of cool people. >> no, we're fun. >> i wasn't talk about about you, but -- d jay, we're going to have fun we're going to have

fun activities the where we'll be able to do common sense service. but it's really a way for us to get people together what may not otherwise know each other and really support college bound. >> now, what would you say if you're selling -- what's some of the benefits that you would envision down the road for someone who becomes a college bound chair person. >> i think the professional networking is key here, i think for young professionals who may be interested many working for nonprofits or being on a board but they may not have financial means to do so or the time to commit, i think college bound champions is the right gown for them. so they get the learn, grow, >> all right. so let's let everybody know you week. so this is perfect timing. >> the event. >> thursday, december 3, in dorchester, so it's an opportunity for us to come out and meet these fun amazing people, but also get a chance the figure out what we're all about, what activities we'll be doing. everybody will get a chance to

part of. >> so it's in thursday on dorchester avenue. and you're got to rsvp, so i'm hoping some folks will say hey, i saw you on urban update. before we move on, i want to talk about the impact this will organization has h. we have a couple photos that i think really capture the emotion of what happens during if whole thing. i love this photohere, because this is a mom and her son, and this is what it's all about. >> yes, this is generational impact. so this is not just about one life, this is clanging entire families and communities and this picture changes it all. >> we had a family up here, we have a mother and daughter, we have another photo coming up. so that's what i think it's about, it's about the people and the lives you're changing, a lot of single parents, a lot of young folks whose lives are changing because of this. >> yeah. >> all right.

>> you said it all. >> we're going to put the cause you be honest in or information, so if you're interested, and we hope you are, there's the website. and hopefully this thursday janelle will be able to meet some new folks. , all right. so how do you network? i mean because you guys are -- you're a great networker. so how important do you think networking is for professionals of color in the city? >>. when you about boston, it's the mecca of colleges and universities and businesses so this is a pool of people who are coming here and boston is keeping them, there's so many young people here that we might not be able to see, so networks is a great opportunity to meet new people that may not be in the same industry, you may not other meet. >> very well said, and again by. urban update this morning.

>> thank you for having us . okay, great job. all right. when we come back, some information on black nativity mere in boston, a tradition that is 45 years old. more details coming up on urban

. the museum of the national center of african-american artists or the ncaaa celebrates the heritage of african cultures worldwide: now, the museum presents a wide range of historical and contemporary exhibits exhibitions in many media, including painting, arts. during the holiday season it produces my gave, black nativity. the canadian of singers, actors and dancers always delivers a

operation victory and liberation. with that kind of itch opportunities for observation i am very happy the welcome our next guest to give us more information about this, the executive director of the ncaaa, edmund barry gaither. welcome back the urban update. >> thank you so much. deeply appreciate this opportunity to say more about our work and especially about black nativity. >> absolutely. let's get to it because we're officially in holiday season mode now. you've digested all your food from thanksgiving and knitwear in christmastime, right? >> yes, and christmas in boston does not come without black nativity. >> oh, i like that. >> black nativity is in piss forty-fifth year, and has become a cherished tradition for many, many, many people, not just in boston.

it is a way of marking an intergenerational opportunity to share something that is about the value of caring, about the gift of hope, and about the profound commitment to rebirth, and all of those things are the content of black nativity, which we like to think of as the gift from the boston black community, to men and women of goodwill, of all traditions. >> that's a great -- you know, i'm sold. what do i say now? and i annal have to pay ten dollars. >> well, we hope you get deluxe tickets. we can raise the price for your ticket. >> or i can guy of tickets for some of the crew here. >> yes, that just reminds me that we have taken great care

over these many years to keep black nativity a very affordable seasonal show. >> absolutely. >> and we are less expensive than many of the shows for this time of the year, we are affordable for a family. >> yes. >> you can bring everybody, from grandma and grandpa to the littlest ones. >> i want to take a few pictures, because a picture's worth a thousand words. i keep saying that, because there's a lot of actors and this photo says a lot. it's at the paramount theater, rite? >> yes, we're at the paramount theater. we're a cast of 75 people p young students, adults, lawyers, all kind of people, and one of the things that has made our show really fantastic is everybody year, there are new people in the show, new youngsters who start with us in

having really performed in public. and in the short period, from october to the top of december, they master standing and performing without a director for an audience, and they capture hearts. i say to them, you can't make a tradition overnight. a tradition is something you have to cultivate and build. >> right, over time. >> they become part of a tradition. they're woven into a history that reaches back to 1970, and to the magnificent work of dr. elma lewis, john andrew ross, george howard, who did the original choreography and vernon blackman who was the first drama director, so they are attached

need that in order to appreciate where we are. >> for those who are now sold, officially you've sold our entire audience, because you're really good at this. i want to put up the run date and the tickets. >> yes, we still have tickets available. >> good. >> and you can call the box office at the paramount center, or you can go to www.ncaaa.org. now, if you putaa you'll get a athletic association. >> absolutely. it's a beautiful venn view. >> and don't miss this year. >> absolutely. so tell me, we talked about being a tradition, what in your submerse, keeps families coming back? because you get the naffings who are curious but i know huff families and folks who just keep coming year after year. >> there are two things i think

one is that a tradition requires a certain familiarity. ill mean you want to have a contour that you know. so the show in its large aspect is similar from year to year, but you also don't want to be bored with the same thing. so i say this show is a little bit like ray charles, who never sang the same song the same way twice. so each time you come, there will billion something new in the spirit, the presentation, and the invention of the show. that's why people come back. >> and of course, this all stems from a lot of the the work you do at the center. >> yes, it does. >> so i also want to put up the information of that plea seem and talk about it, because you're right in the heart of roxbury, right? >> yes, we are at 300 walnut avenue. and we program year

we do an annual show on the 19th of june. we do a big head festival until august which celebrates the fag 95 sent sculpture on our grounds, eternal presence, we do moves, film, the whole works throughout, so if you visit our website, you'll see all of that. we see our role in the world as i nonethelessuating for ourselves and for others who black people are in the history of the world. >> and we mentioned a little bit about it being a tradition here in boston, and you you said something at the beginning, christmastime is not christmastime until -- >> yes, that's true. >> i like that, because it's such an integral part of what boston is today. >> yes, we have chosen to really make our cast and our members

all from boston, always, and one year, we did have celebrity guests in the show, but we have found that there is nothing like being at home and drawing on the wealth of talent that you live with every day. you see yourself and your neighbors differently when you see them in the totality of their creativity. >> i want to put up a picture of one of the cast, take this one down, we're going to have you tell me who these folks are. because i saw a lot of young people in it. i saw a lot of theatrical value in the sets. so when people go and you see something like this. this is a complete theatrical wonderment, right? >> yes, it is a music play. it's costumed and the t extraordinary thing is you will go to nothing else at christmas

you see mary deliver the christ child on stage . you are a great spokesperson, i wish you a lot of luck. >> thank you very much. >> and we will be there. black nativity. >> i'll be looking for you in particular. >> all right. that's it for this edition of urban update. but before we go a special shout out to our friends at both ballet and their nutcracker crew. go past, they play later tonight as they try to stay undefeated this season. on channel 7, have a great

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