-Who Wants to be a Graffiti Street Member?

K. Adams

Have you ever wanted to be on television? Speak your opinions where you know you will be heard? Ever wanted to be someone in the spotlight for once? On Graffiti Street, a Virgin Islands youth television talk show “for teens, by teens,” students get together to voice their thoughts and opinions on issues that affect them, such as school violence, bullying, friendship, and love.

Graffiti Street was founded more than two decades ago by former Senator Allie Allison Petrus. The show’s director and president is Myron Corbett, who is also a cousin to our newest principal, Mr. Terence Corbett.

“Currently we have three students from Kean on our cast; originally at our casting call we had a total of 12 who tried out for this season. That total was the largest turnout of any of the schools. Originally the cast would have consisted of four members from Kean, but Ke'yanna Jenkins returned to St. Croix,” said Lambakisye Richardson, Graffiti Street’s main producer. The three other Kean Graffiti Street members are Shelliqua Bartley, Christopher Lawrence, and Samuel Jones.

When asked what she has learned by participating on the show, Kean senior Shelliqua Bartley said, “For me, meeting new people is what I gained from Graffiti Street...and learning how to give your opinion and still hold your tongue.”

Graffiti Street cast member Shelliqua Bartley

Shelliqua was not even aware that auditions for the show were being held at Kean this past fall. It was by pure chance she was in the right place at the right time, and she went for it. “Well,honestly, I thought it was something I’d be good at. To be honest I didn’t think I’d get in, but I did. It’s fun.”

This popular thirty-minute show airs in a six-part series every Sunday night at 7pm on WTJX channel 12. This show includes members from Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, Charlotte Amalie High School, All Saints Cathedral School, Antilles School, Central High School, etc. There are two separate shows for St. Croix and St.Thomas. Teens from St. Thomas and St. Croix participate in this talk show and trade off weeks producing and hosting the show for a total of 24 broadcasts each year.

Students from 9th-12th grade can audition to be on this talk show at the beginning of a school year, and diversity is highly encouraged.

There are about 35 teen cast members. Different ages, grades, and personality participate in Graffiti Street, but they all have one thing in common : their confidence and their clear voices. “The teens on this show are all considered academically gifted, but it’s their character that earned them the honor of being hand picked from many hopeful alumnus, local producers, and coordinators of this show,” said Barbara Birt, a local reporter. http://stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2008/10/05/not-profit-graffiti-street

Being a teen social group, the talk show members gravitate towards positive things to help out our community, whether it be basketball tournaments, volunteering at numerous houses, or teen dances. The show’s goals include the instilling of leadership skills and self-confidence.

Since the start of this teen talk show 21 years ago, it has earned such awards as the Best Teen Program International Award, in 1992; the Gould-Wysinger Award, in 1993: and a 1st Place Award for youth programming, beating out more national teen shows such as Teen Summit for BET.

In 1999, Graffiti Street was asked to participate in a national campaign against youth violence, and in the 2000-2001 season they rallied with TRUTH against tobacco smoking, according to their website.

To have even more fun, the cast goes on annual trips. They have travelled to places in the U.S. such as Orlando, Florida; Washington, D.C.; and New York City. Closer to home, they have visited Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and taken an Eastern Caribbean cruise to St. Maarten, Dominica, and Martinique. In Europe, they have toured France, Belgium, Germany, and Netherlands,

This year they took half of their cast can attend the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Graffitti Street’s co-producer, Tamara Mullgrave, said. “We were able to travel with a few students in 2009, and this season we have found ourselves with a growing interest among the cast----The four students who were able to go four years ago learned a lot and we want to extend that same opportunity to more students this year,” according to Fiona Stokes in the Daily News.

The producers worked with the delegate to Congress’ office to make special contacts with Washington D.C. “This is a very important time in our history, and we want the students to be a part of it as intimately as possible,” said Tamara Mullgrave, Graffiti Street’s co-producer.

The older seasons of Graffiti Street have a Facebook page that is headed by Carol Callwood. Check it out if you're interested in contacting some of the Graffiti Street alumni from Kean.