“I knew it was the kernel of something,” Jeremy Rashad Brown says of his 2019 play Rap Unzel. “but I didn't think [it would be] this.”
Five years ago, Brown created Reggie ‘Rap’ Unzel III as the central character in his play Rap Unzel. At the time, he was trying to create a children’s play about joy and optimism and positivity, personified in a character he calls “the personification of black boy joy.”
Even then, Brown says, he thought Reggie Rap would live on beyond the play – even if he wasn’t sure exactly how. Then 2019 turned into 2020, the world changed, and Brown became even more aware of his need to do something to address the growing mental health crisis he saw around him.
“It means something to me, this particular cause – when it comes to mental wellness… especially to youth – because of the past five years we've had. And with the pandemic raging on the way it did and how a lot of us – pretty much all of us – didn't know exactly what to do and how things were going to be afterwards, or even if there was an afterwards. And we were adults. What about the kids? Anxiety and suicide ideation went up exponentially over the pandemic because they weren't able to socialize, they weren't even able to go to school to kind of get away and do some of their favorite things, be around their friends. And on top of that, they still had to go to school and it was very different for them because it was just all online and they didn't know how to process what was going on in the world. They just didn't have the mental and verbal tools to really properly express that. And so one of the ways I wanted to help those kids kind of combat that depression, that suicide ideation and anxiety and depression was through the arts, because that's what helped me when I was growing up. When I found music, when I found band, when I found theater, it was a catharsis, it was a form of expression.”
That impulse to help resulted in this summer’s Reggie Rap’s Community Care Celebration, a series of events organized by Brown to focus on arts and mental wellness. Reggie Rap is the positive role model at the center of what Brown is calling an “ecosystem.”
“He's a little 12-year-old boy with a super high-top fade that comes from a background of strong emotionally intelligent parents as well as grandparents and community builders,” Brown explains. “And so he already had that just in his DNA, right? And even at 12 years old, as he personifies this self-care habit, this emotional intelligence being, he is able to still show up for his family, his friends, and even some bullies that don't necessarily understand who and why and what he is, what he's about and why he is the way he is. And so Reggie Rap is black boy joy, self-care, emotional intelligence at the ripe age of 12 years old, teaching adults how to better and best take care of themselves.”
Brown says Reggie is based – at least in part – on his own younger self. “There are some elements to him that are definitely me,” he says, “but it's the more idealized version of myself that I aspire to be.”
At the upcoming celebrations, which will take place at Republic Square on July 20 and August 17, there will be vendor and art markets, DJs, and plenty of entertainment and discussion. “We're going to kick it off with the origin play, Rap Unzel, for the family, for the kids,” Brown says, “so they can see self-care in motion and in action through the story because it's for all ages. And then it's going to be followed by a mental health panel that [is] going to focus on topics of BIPOC mental health awareness and what community is and how we best foster and support ourselves while building community as historically marginalized folks. And then after the mental health panel, we're going to have an open mic where we're going to have some poets show up and really be able to deliver the raw authenticity of what it means to really care for yourself and what mental health is to each one of those individuals that will be performing and reciting some of their works. And then after the poetry, we'll have live music.”
Brown says he hopes people come out and enjoy the day and also take away some lessons. “I really hope that people get what the intention is behind it and really follow through,” he says. “Not only for themselves but for others – and making sure that they are properly cared for or at least have the resources and knowledge of how to properly take care of yourself. And also know that Reggie Rap's Room is here to help facilitate that and help you connect with folks that can help you feel better, get better and do better.”
Reggie Rap’s Community Care Celebration will be July 20 and August 17 at Republic Square.
