The Happiness Club: Singing Toward Self-Esteem in Chicago

In the heart of downtown Chicago, there's a new generation of actors, singers, and hip-hop dancers making a name for themselves. They’re performing for heads of state, including former President Bill Clinton. They’ve warmed up for Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. They perform frequently at Taste of Chicago and Navy Pier. Their subject matter, though, isn't what you might expect to find at a typical hip-hop concert.

What are they singing about? Honesty. Global responsibility. Fighting prejudice. Saying no to drugs.

The Happiness Club began in 1992 when its founding members decided to combat teen gang violence and drug abuse by giving kids a safe and appealing alternative to being on the street. They brought together kids from wildly different social backgrounds, offering them free performance training in an environment dedicated to addressing social issues in a safe, positive, creative way. Today, the organization boasts a large repertoire of message-based music and performances celebrating life, self-esteem, and the importance of positive choices.

With a core group of 70 performers and outreach programs throughout the city of Chicago, The Happiness Club works with hundreds of teens a year. Its award-winning outreach program, Ethics for Kids, extends its message-based music and performance development into schools. They carry a full curriculum, including music videos and lesson plans for teachers, that directly corresponds to the Life Skills curriculum currently taught throughout the Chicago Public Schools. The Life Skills curriculum encourages the development of honesty, pride, and tolerance in youth and teens; the corresponding Happiness Club curriculum encourages them to stand up and shout, dance, and sing about it.

“For many of the young people involved,” explains Managing Director Diana Basmajian, “it is the first time they are given a voice and taken seriously. They’re expected to teach other kids tolerance and positive values through the arts.”

The most prolific Happiness Club program is its core performance group. Selected by audition, this 70-member ensemble represents The Happiness Club throughout Chicago. Their hip-hop performances are composed of all original, message-based material. They aren’t afraid to address difficult issues like violence and drug abuse. Most of the messages, though, eventually come back to one common theme: self-esteem. “If you have high self-esteem,” Basmajian explains, “You can say no [to drugs or violence]. And you can talk to somebody when you need help.”

A promising young performer, Alcolu, joined The Happiness Club when he was fourteen. His attendance was sporadic, though; he was also being recruited by one of the most notorious gangs in Chicago, and hanging out at a place called “The Happiness Club” wasn’t helping his chances.

One day, when he chanced to show up at rehearsal, one of the Happiness Club teaching artists pulled Alcolu aside (not knowing what was keeping him away) and told him to get his act together. He had a gift, they said, and they didn’t want to see him waste it.

But Alcolu just disappeared again. Everybody feared the worst, and assumed they’d lost him to the gang. As it turns out, though, he’d made a positive and unexpected choice. He was pretending to be sick when the gang came to call. Eventually he started coming back to Happiness Club rehearsals on the sly. The gang finally gave up on him.

The Happiness Club is often recruited for community events and rallies where their uplifting affirmations will resonate, such as fundraisers and charities. The sheer charisma and talent of the group, though, has led to more prolific entertainment venues, including regular summer gigs at Chicago’s popular Navy Pier and, most recently, at the opening of Chicago’s long-awaited Millenium Park.

“It’s a challenge sometimes to find a balance between focusing on good production values and focusing on good human values,” says Basmajian. It became clear, she adds, that training these young artists to be dynamic individuals, not just dynamic performers,  was essential to the program’s success. Today, every member of The Happiness Club is required to perform community service and maintain a certain grade point average.

When the standards for membership were raised a few years ago, everyone feared that participants wouldn’t want to be held to such strict standards, and that enrollment would drop. Instead, it skyrocketed. In one year, membership in the club went from 25 to 75 kids.

“They won’t just be good performers,” says Basmajian. “They’ll be good citizens.”

Alcolu’s eighteen now. In the fall he’ll be attending Chicago’s Columbia College on a full dance scholarship. When he’s not performing with The Happiness Club, he’s volunteering as a Big Brother in his old neighborhood.

When asked what the best thing about The Happiness Club is, Basmajian’s response is overwhelming. She’ll flood you with success stories of kids like Alcolu. She’ll reiterate the number of issues the kids manage to address with themselves and with their communities: Peer pressure and bullying. Sexual assault. Gang violence. Sexual identity.

Ultimately, though, she lands on the necessary relationship between the issues The Happiness Club addresses, and the use of art and performance in addressing them. “They recognize the power of art,” she says proudly, “and the power of their own voices and their own potential.”

“So many people say to these kids that their futures are already determined and set in stone. Now they can say, ‘I determine my future. Nobody else determines it for me.’”

 

For more information on The Happiness Club, visit http://www.thehappinessclub.com/ or call (773) 481-8264.

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