Non-profit Give a Beat aims to bring about social change via music, and the organization is planning its A Positive Spin: Remixed global launch event in Downtown Los Angeles this Saturday, October 24.
Give a Beat was founded by Lauren Segal and Virginia Cheung, whose previous humanitarian work with NextAid harnessed the power of music to support sustainable development projects in Africa. Their new venture aims to raise awareness about the United States’ mass incarceration epidemic and support the creation of youth development and entrepreneurial programs via live music events and online platforms. Additionally, Greg Lucas—known for his work with the world famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band—was instrumental in the new organization’s launch.
This weekend’s launch event will begin at Impact HUB LA with an electronic music producing and DJing youth workshop from 3-6 PM. For the workshop, Scratch DJ Academy will provide gear and instructors. Afterward, the main event will begin, featuring performances from Afrolicious’ Pleasuremaker with Sandra Izsadore and Gabriel ‘Gato’ Ferrer on percussion. The event will continue with a set of presentations from California Innocence Project’s Associate Director Alex Simpson as well as exonerated football player Brian Banks. For the afterparty (9 PM – 2 AM), the action moves over to Pattern Bar for a night with DJ Garth, Wiseacre, Tamara, Sascha Lahti, and more.
The workshop is free to registered youth participants (register here), and the main event is free with reservations (with donations encouraged). For more information, go to GiveABeat.org.
