TEN YEARS OF UNYC: A reflection.
Ten years ago I was getting ready to give birth to an idea that I had been working on for months. I was inspired from my time serving in youth ministry, working on church events as well as watching my family organize a yearly Christian Hip Hop Festival in the Bronx called Rap Fest.
I was also inspired by other movements/events like BattleCry, God Belongs In My City, Urban Kingdom Youth Ministries, CREATIONFEST and I Am Second. I always gravitated towards these experiences that gathered people, young and old, providing a platform for folks to share their gifts and inspire those in attendance.
Because of the various relationships developed over the years, I began dreaming up ways to gather UNYC individuals that would be able to impact large audiences. Some of these dreams were realized when I joined the Rap Fest staff to help coordinate aspects of the event on their final leg of their 20 year run.
Working with Daniel Sanabria of GBIMC/UKYM I joined a group of leaders in the Bronx that organized the Revolution Lounge, an event that had local minstries share in various art forms and have special guest speakers. This lead to being a part of the GBIMC Tour staff and helping see the national and local Prayer tours produced and feature National Recording artists.
The desire to use my skills and organize events grew exponentially. I prayed about it and discussed some ideas with those closest to me and began to start planning out what would be my first UNYC event: CONNECT SHARE INSPIRE.
With the support of my Pastor and church at The Sanctuary Fellowship, UNYC held its first FREE event that included Hip Hop & Alternative bands, a local recording studio, a clothing brand, a Basketball organization and a special video production with the help of my brothers at APFilms that featured Andy Mineo, Rich Perez & JCruzProject.
The success for me initially was thinking “Wow, this place is at standing room only!” But the real satisfaction of a well done event has been learning about the folks that were inspired by the night and went on to create some wonderful things: Events like TheOlogyBx that has provided a space for creative believers to share their heart through various forms of music. Working alongside other creatives like Suleky Roman who curated some very special moments for artists in NYC and across the country.
Now today on March 3rd 2022 I find myself with new ideas, new desires, new passions but the same Heart. I pray that with everything I do, others can be encouraged and inspired to use their UNYC gifts.
These days it will look a little different maybe for UNYC.
We will continue to support The Ology and its monthly events.
We will be creating more UNYC apparel and look to collaborate with other creatives.
We will work on creating encouraging and inspiring content for our socials.
We will look to highlight other creatives that we believe in and support through our socials.
ALSOOO, I have ventured into business ownership and will help run a screen printing company in NYC. So I am excited to help creatives see their visions come to life on apparel and see their businesses thrive.
And to top all of this, the most special thing happening 10 years later is that my wife and I are expecting our first child this Spring. What a joy to see that new life is on the way and an opportunity for us to raise a child of God and help them grow and develop their UNYC creative abilities.
Man I would not have guessed that 10 years later, I would be preparing to watch my wife give birth to out child and for a new business endeavor to come to life.
God is good!
Don’t give up on your dreams. Seek God in all you do. Be patient and give yourself some grace.
It’s all in Gods hands!!
