Today, Cummings leads a circle of drummers that include a handful of young men who are incarcerated for offenses like stealing a car, petty theft, substance abuse and delinquency.
"I want them to know who they are, to find their identity," Cummings said. "Music is a healing weapon."
Cummings is a teaching artist with the Rhythm Arts Alliance, a group that works with incarcerated youth in camps overseen by the Los Angeles County Probation Department.
Last week, Cummings' group and other arts organizations that make up the Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network visited Kilpatrick's young wards along with youth justice advocates from across the country. The goal of the unlikely summit: explore how the arts can be harnessed to transform the youth justice system.
The day at Campus Kilpatrick is part of Create Justice, a year-long, bi-coastal initiative to integrate the arts into juvenile justice reform and programming.
To read more of Jeremy Loudenback's article, please click here.
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