Good morning, peep Sena. Welcome to Okay f Daily with Meet Your Girl Danielle Moody, recording from the Long Island Home Bunker. Folks, I'm really excited about the interview I have coming up next. You know that whenever I have the opportunity to speak with educators, I'm always so happy to do so because I think that teachers, not only because I am a former educator, but teachers are just
so disrespected in this country. And we know that we know a country based on what it is that they value, and the fact that teachers continue to have to do bake sales or take money out of their own pockets in order to buy school supplies for children, or just get any type of respect and are not demonized for wanting to teach the truth about the founding of this nation, or who should be celebrated as the heroes and the
patriots in this country. Not to mention, folks, not to mention the fact that being a teacher in these United States means that you're putting your own life at risk of gun violence because of the consistent and unrelenting mass
shootings that happens in our nation's schools. So I'm really excited to be able to get into this conversation with men Deep Setti, who is a teacher at June Jordan School of Equity in San Francisco and received an amazing grant from Save the Music, the Jay Dilla Music Technology Grant last year as a way to engage young people in the arts in music. You know, not to mention write the attacks that we have seen on curriculum, the fears that teachers have of even uttering the words gay
or talking about any type of difference whatsoever. The arts and music is always right on the chopping block in our nation schools because it's not considered as important as STEM. It's not considered as important or needed. Meanwhile, I think that what we all understood, particularly at the height of the pandemic, is how important art, music and connection is
to our day to day lives. One of the things that I'll talk to Setti about is, you know, basically I don't know about you all, but during quarantine, if I wasn't in one DJ's live on Instagram, I was in another DJ's live. I got through being in quarantine and dealing with all of this uncertainty by dancing around my apartment by dancing around my home by being able to connect with other people that just needed a release. And that is what I think that the arts and
music allow for, is that released. And so for me, you know, I wish that in this country that we looked at music and the arts as essential rather than as an elective something that is, you know, a nice to have, but you don't need. What does a society look like without music makers, without artists, right, it is devoid of passion, of innovation, of beauty, and those are all the things that are necessary, particularly when times are difficult.
And so I love this conversation with Setix because one we get into the importance of just kids having the space to be able to express themselves, right, to not be shut down, and to find different avenues to express
the trauma that is this moment in our lives. You know, I think about it often that we as adults have the language, have the ability to kind of roll with the punches, and even for us the last several years under the Trump administration, dealing with a global health pandemic, the unrelenting gun violence that we see on a day to day basis, with mass shootings, we lose our own words and our own ability to want to get out
of bed. So imagine now dealing with those compacted crises, and then also going through hormonal changes and society, trying to figure out where you fit in your school, in society and your community, and then on top of that, dealing with all of these issues. So I think that the work that Mundeep is doing with the June Jordan's School of Equity and that other educators are doing like him, aren't necessary and should be lifted up and applauded and
frankly replicated, particularly now. So coming up next my conversation with teacher rapper musician mand Deep Seti. Folks, I'm very excited to welcome to okay f Daily for the very first time, um Mand Deep Seti aka Seti X, who is a teacher at June Jordan's School of Equity in
San Francisco and also a rapper musician. Seti, I want to start off our conversation today with kind of talking about the many attacks that teachers have been under um by the far right, by conservatives, and you know where you see the role of the arts of music education in our school systems, particularly now when you know curriculums are being overturned or narrowed. What role do you see that music and the arts play in a child's education. Well, it's so great to be here with you on woke
af Thank you Danielle for having me um. I think number one as a teacher. You know, one thing that's very clear, especially after the pandemic, is that we are essential workers. Right, So teachers are essential workers. And one on one hand, it was being propped up like you know,
so much love for the essential workers. But then if you look at the back end, the statistics of what teachers are paid, what they have to deal with not only with supporting our students, but also the rise of school shootings, the rise of violence, the rise of conservative overturning of you know, basically ethnic studies, that's going on in the schools where students are actually getting to learn
who they are and what real history actually is. So I think that's that's important to remember, is that teachers are essential workers and that they are the ones that are with our young people every day basically figuring out what the future is going to look like, you know what I mean. And so where arts comes into plays the crea of mind, which is something that is supposed to be nurtured through a human experience. But we know that school systems don't necessarily cater to the arts first, right.
It's always something as an elective or something you get to choose at the end of the day. And so for me, as a teacher who's heavily invested in arts based learning, I've learned and seen firsthand that arts based learning, project based learning using tools such as music, visual are using tools including technology, creates a whole different experience for students where they feel welcome in the classroom, they feel safe in the classroom, and most of all, they feel
the ability to be themselves. And that's where learning happens. Because if they have this wall up of protecting themselves throughout the day, then it's harder to reach the true self of learning. So I think that arts based learning and education allows for students to really open up to new ideas. Yeah, and I just you know, I want to echo something that you said about teachers being essential workers, you know, And I've been thinking about this a lot,
um And I am a former educator. As folks who listen to Woke a f no UM, I taught first and second grade UM special education and general education in Washington, DC before I went into education policy. And you know, what I will say is that you can tell what
a country values by who is making the most money. Right, And when we look at teacher salaries and we look at many strikes that we've seen happen across the country in different cities and in different places, you know, teachers are probably the most undervalued position, right that has such as such as such a consequential position though in a child's life, right, Like, I know that, you know you must have a story, as I have a story. You know, what was that teacher that turned you on to music?
That turned you on in a way that kind of that that changed the trajectory of your life? Straight up? No, I have that teacher. And that teacher miss shout out to miss mystery. She was a brown educator, so I saw myself in her. I was like, Okay, this is South Asian person of uh you know what I'm saying, South Asian descent. We can I can connect with that. And then she had a project will basically allowed us to like, instead of writing an essay, you could write
a song. And that was my introduction into from poetry into music. Which propelled me into a full time career until I became shifted over to education to tour and make music and hip hop music and share that with the world. So I mean, for me, that was life changing, and I'm trying to like take that to the next level with what I'm doing. So, you know, I'm a hip hop artist, but now I'm a full time educator,
So I'm bringing that into the classroom. And our courses are designed to give students real life skills so that they can use the technology, get paid internships, and yes, disrupt the um kind of white supremacy and white privilege that exists within even the creative community and the creative economy as well as the tech economy, you know what I'm saying. So we're in San Francisco. We're fighting against
rapid gentrification. We're an outer mission, you know what I'm saying, Like people who work at these tech companies are buying houses that our students, you know, the neighborhoods are students live in, and these are now over million dollar houses and we're still in neighborhoods that are fighting against you know what I'm saying, These financial economic turmoil that's been
happening for years. So there's a lot going on with our students, and so music definitely plays a large part in a multitude of ways of their healing and of their kind of their voice. In twenty twenty one, you were the recipient of the Saved Save the Music grant from Jay Dill, and I want you to talk a bit about that, but then also my frustration that we need grants in order to save the music because our schools and the arts are not being funded in a
way that makes it secure. So speak to speak to that. Yeah, So when I arrived at the school that I work at now, there was no music program. And so if that blows my mind, because we're in an area of San Francisco and the Bay Area which is known for changing the way that independent music, independent hip hop work, it lives in the US and the world, and so we're in this mecca of music business and music technology,
but we have no music program at our school. So in that sense, you know, there was a It was an eye opening experience for me. But as a musician, I looked at out there and I found this resource and shout out to save the music because they believed
in me. When basically no one else did, and they allowed us to apply for this grant, which we received, the Jay Della Music Technology Grant, which is named after the late hip hop producer Jay Della James Dewey Yancy at a Detroit and who changed the sound of music and so for us to be able to carry on his legacy is such an on her. And we recently hosted Ma Dukes, who is his mother, who came by and got to see the work that our students are doing.
She listened to their music, and she told us that at the end of that that she wished that there were more schools like this and more programs like this because she saw the value of music that was taking place and how it was changing lives right in front of her. So it's really a blessing to have this
grant and to have these resources. But I think that it is a It has been a wake up call for our district and for other programs to see like, oh wow, like investing in the arts actually does make a difference, because I think for years people ignored that. Can you explain, like paint a picture for us about how you are utilizing music in the classroom and what your and what this program actually looks like and the ways in the different ways, the innovative ways that you
are that you are educating youth. Right, So, we know that a lot of our students are used to the iPhones or Android, and so we decided to go work with Save the Music to create iPad based curriculum. So we use iPads. We two students how to make music on Garage Band. So for students who have music experience, they can step in right where they are if they
have music theory or instrument experience. And for a student who has absolutely zero experience making music can also feel on day one that I can do this too through different tutorials and formulas that we use through Garage Band. And so this accessibility is the main key for our program because we know that technology is not accessible for a lot of our students. You know what I'm saying. Seventy five percent of our students qualify for a free lunch,
So that shows you their economic situation. And at the end of the day, most students don't have a device at home, whether it's a computer or an iPad. Right, they may have a phone, but that's about it. And so we're allowing students to get on these devices and to basically learn the same skills that you would pay to learn at any music program at maybe NYU or any sort of private program that exists in Los Angeles. This is the same skills, the same equipment that these
professionals are using. So that's the main thing that our program is revolutionizing is the accessibility. And then those students who may have iPhones, they can also you know, air drop the file onto their phone. They can check out equipment, they can take it home and continue to work on it. We have microphones and headphone students can check out, and so when you come into our classroom, you'll see a multitude of things. You'll see students making beats. You'll see
some students on the turntables learning how to DJ. You'll see some students in the vocal booth working on singing or rapping. And at the end of the day, we want them to express themselves, to be able to use that play space as a place of healing, as a place of safety and trust, so that they can just be who they are meant to be. You know, I love this so much. I love your program. I love the work that you're doing, particularly with you know, notably
marginalized students. And I want to talk for a moment out how the pandemic, how the pandemic remote learning just impacted young people, young people that you know, your students that you come across, and how you know your program might have helped them kind of cope with this situation, with the uncertainty that we were all struggling to deal with. Definitely, it was a tough time and to be honest, music
definitely saved a lot of us during that time. And so for us our students, you know, they had cameras off. You know, we don't know what's going on at home, and so on one hand, teachers are upset why are the cameras off? But at the end the other hand, it's like, well, you know, this is a very interesting experience that students are like being taught at from their
home and we're asking them to show us their home. So, you know, I think for me, I was able to I was able to use it to an advantage actually because now that students are on their device, they can use the programs that I was using online and there's no like actions because you're on the device that you're using to make music, so I try to flip it into a positive and I saw more engagement from students
that normally wouldn't be engaged in other remote learning. Right I'm hearing students are not coming to these other classes, but they would come to our beat making class. We were able to collaborate online. Students were able to share their screen and show their process. And at the end of it, we held a music production showcase where we invited people from all over the world to come see
and hear these students. And I think it was definitely like life changing for myself and for other students, because you know, we're all stuck at home, but we have this point of connection that's so deep, and that music technology just brought us together. You know. I think about myself and the ways in which you know, d nice had created an entire life, you know, very much so a life saving community, you know, by djaying from home
and going on Instagram live. I think about so many other DJs that I got to experience, and you know, during particularly those those initial days of being in quarantine and not knowing what's going to happen, and just and I realized at that point it set to like how important one. How important connection is right that we have all taken, uh, you know, taken for granted because of what social media has also provided, but also taken away
in terms of personal contact. But then recognizing the way that you you needed music, you needed gathering space in order to be able to even um, move through, to get out of you know, to get out of bed in the morning. And so when I think about myself and how I was dancing out around my you know, apartment in space, and I think about you know, your your young students, um, and what a lifeline it was
for them. Um, you know, what are some of the I guess, what are some of the stories or you know, things that you can share in terms When people think again about music education or aren't they think of it as an elective? So explain why it isn't, why it shouldn't be looked at as an elective and instead of it should be viewed as essential. Right. I think that there's two ways to answer that question, and the first is that the experience is essential for students to have
art and music right. And one story I have as a student who transferred from another school and they were not integrated into the community at all, they felt completely outcasted, and they took my music class just because they had no other choice, right, that was the only open elective, and so they ended up getting placed in my class.
Fast forward two years, this is my best student. This student is performing at multiple venues in San Francisco, getting opportunities through our program, through Save the Music and our partners, and this student is now pursuing a professional career in
music and getting internships where they're getting paid right. And and then the other side of that story, or the second answer to that question why it's essential is because later on finding out that the student who is an African American youth from the neighborhood is lives in a group home, right, and it's not inch, it's not in touch with their family and does not get the support from their family, And all of a sudden, this music program has provided a platform for them to express themselves,
for them to find support for them to be who they are, right, And so there's healing going on, multigenerational healing going on. There's you know, equity in action with students getting industry level pay rates right that they reserve instead of having to work at you know, retail salaries or whatever it is or free right. As we know in the creative industry, a lot of us work for free. It's like we can get them paid right away. And
I know that you put in work. I know I put in work for free before we were ever given a platform or create our own platform, right, and that's just what we do. But now we have the opportunity to present students with financial stability at such a young age if we can create those skills. And I think that's what arts education is about. It's not just about you know that having a good time. It's about real skills that can translate into real opportunities. And it's also
about real healing. Yeah, And I just you know, and I love the fact too that you're placing your students in places where they can actually get paid, because many people, you know, would roll the rise and say, well, I intern for free, and that's you know, and that's part of the experience. And I think to myself that comes from a point of privilege, right, being able to to to decide that you're going to work for free because the knowledge is going to be payment enough means that
all your other needs are met. But when you're talking about young people that are, you know, potentially living in group homes or in between homes or what have you. That money, right can go towards so much, and so
I think that it's important to lift that a well. Definitely, I think that it is a place of privilege, you know, And I can say myself at times that I've been able to be an artist because of certain privileges that I've been born into or been raised with, right, and so my perspective understanding that is really the key to understanding their perspective. If you know who you are, then
you can understand who others are. Right. And so I'm at a place where I try to meet the students where they are, and I think a lot of folks in our community don't understand that these students at a young age are financially already self reliant. So they may not be independent like lived at home. They still live at home. You still have a mom or dad or whoever caretaker Grandma's around, But at the end of the day, the financial flow is not happening through the family. It's
happening independently. And if students need to take care of young ones or get to a certain place, like say they need to get to a free internship, they need to pay for of US or an uber there like there's a financial gap. So it is important to provide these opportunities to students. And I mean, I think that that is the way moving forward to kind of you know, enable them in that way as well the setting. You know, last question for you, what are you hoping? What are
what are your hopes for this program? For you know, for for June Jordan's School of Equity where you are, and for music and the arts. I guess in our school system and our public education system at large. Well, you know, I'm working with Martha Diez and the Hip Hop Education Center in New York and we're doing the hip Hop Education and Equity Pilot grant in s fus D. And I think that for me, that is the future
of education. And that's what I hope for the future of education is to bring in the hip hop education and equity element. However that may be whether it's through uh B boying or a street art or djaying or m seeing or singing, but some sort of like hip hop element meeting the youth where they're at. We already know hip hop culture is youth culture and has been the dominant culture in the youth. It's time to embrace it.
It's okay if folks don't know about hip hop culture and need to learn about hip hop culture, that's what we do. Fifth element of hip hop is knowledge. We're here to break it down. And that's how I learned about hip hop culture. Someone brought me into the fold through all the different educational aspects that hip hop offers. And so I think, you know, we say each one
teach one. I think that if we can inspire other educators and other hip hop artists to come together and bridge the gap, I think that, you know, I mean that knowledge and education will grow in tenfolds in our communities if we embrace the languages and the music and culture of our communities and use those in our educational spaces. And so you know what I'm saying, I'd love to see more POC educators out there just holding it down. Shout out to all of those, you know, coast to
coast and worldwide that are already holding it down. We see you, and we recognize you, and I just want to be another one of those beacons of light that
we all can be. You know, what I mean, SETI, I just want to thank you so much for the work that you're doing, for the light that you're bringing, for the innovation that you have for tomorrow's leaders, and give you the opportunity to tell folks how they can learn more about about this, about your program, if they want to introduce something like this in their own schools, if they want to follow you and your music. Please tell the folks how they can get in touch. Definitely, Well,
you can check me out. My name is SETI X. I'm on Instagram and Twitter as well, just at SETI underscore X that stands for Sounds of Extraterrestrial Intelligence. You can follow our music program on Instagram at Music Tech SF that's Music tec HSF and of course Big Love and big shout out to Save the Music for supporting our program giving us that Jadala Music Technology Grant, Big
Love to my dukes. Make sure you follow official j Dilla, Save the Music and my Dukes on social media and check out Save the Music dot org for more information about the Jay Della Music Tech Grant. Set the X, thank you so much for making the time for woke F and I hope that you'll join us again. Oh definitely. It was such a pleasure to be on here with you, Daniells and just had felt so natural and normal to have this beautiful conversation. So we'll catch up more for sure,
and big love to the woke f family. Thank you. That is it for me today, Dear friends on woke f as always, power to the people and to all the people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.