The Commercial Appeal

Weathersbe­e

-

Rap — like the freestylin­g he once did at school at lunchtime, making beats with tins on the table. Freestylin­g that was inspired by rap legend Tupac Shakur, who was killed in 1996, and Eminem, who used rap to escape edge-oftown poverty.

Through those artists and others, Brown realized that rap was a potent tool not just to entertain, but to express the struggles and plights of people who tend to be overlooked or marginaliz­ed.

Since he was a teenager, Brown, now 20, has been doing exactly that.

Now known as Roben X, the Memphis artist recently enthralled hundreds of children at Grahamwood Elementary School’s after-school program with his slideshow about Olleh, a character whose handshake causes people to see different colors and the beauty they all hold.

He also talked about how, in addition to music, his superhero, Spider-man, strengthen­ed him and inspired his stage persona, Roben X.

“Peter Parker was kind of a goofy kid, kind of an outcast, but once he became Spider-man, he became faster and stronger, and better, essentiall­y. Through this character, Peter Parker grew as a person.

“So, Roben X is kind of my Spiderman.”

Yet as Brown talked to the kids about his struggle with bullying, he also talked to them about how to overcome it through finding a passion.

In Brown’s case, he’s using the passion he found to fight the bullying that led him to it.

In December, Brown’s activism led him to Geneva, Switzerlan­d, to appear before the United Nations High Commission­er for Human Rights. There, he was honored as a human rights champion.

Brown also learned that people with albinism in many other nations have it worse.

“In some countries, albinos are killed,” Brown said. “They are murdered, and their limbs are taken from them because they’re believed to be magic.

“Here they aren’t killed, but they struggle with getting the proper supplement­s to avoid skin cancer. I wanted to spread awareness and to show how we can help … .”

Brown believes he can help — starting with the children. Which is a good place to begin. Children who are bullied are at a higher risk of dying by suicide, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Bullying and racist taunts played a role in the suicide of 9-year-old Mckenzie Adams of Alabama in December. A month later, 10-year-old Seven Bridges of Kentucky killed himself after being bullied over his colostomy bag.

And last year, 16-year-old Jacob Vincent cried as he told the Germantown Municipal School District’s Board of Education that rampant bullying drove him out of its schools and into depression.

The bullies also told him to kill himself. “This is a very passionate thing for me, and I wish someone had done it before,” Brown said.

“It’s different hearing it from me and not an (older) adult, because when you hear it from an (older) adult, it sounds like they’re lecturing you and nagging you, versus hearing it from someone who you find cool, who you find endearing.

“I know how to empathize with them because not only have I been bullied, I’ve been in their shoes. And when they hear my age, it makes me more accessible.”

So, as the children at Grahamwood danced and squealed at Brown’s rap stylings, they were responding to a young man who found a way to use a weapon that could have destroyed him — bullying — into the conscienti­ousness needed to destroy it. One schoolkid at a time. Tonyaa Weathersbe­e can be reached at tonyaa.weathersbe­e@commercial­appeal.com or on Twitter at @tonyaajw

 ??  ?? Robdarius Brown, also known as Roben X, takes a question from a student at Grahamwood Elementary School on Thursday. Brown is a rap artist who was bullied in Memphis schools because he was born with albinism. He spoke with students about bullying. BRAD VEST/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
Robdarius Brown, also known as Roben X, takes a question from a student at Grahamwood Elementary School on Thursday. Brown is a rap artist who was bullied in Memphis schools because he was born with albinism. He spoke with students about bullying. BRAD VEST/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States