ReadysetDC A CREATIVE URBAN ENTERPRISE

Bum Rush the Boards Hip-Hop Chess Tournament

All photography by Chris Svetlik.

This past Saturday, an army of law enforcement officers descended upon the Convention Center, setting up roadblocks and establishing perimeters for the upcoming nuclear summit. In stark contrast, just across the street at the Historical Society of Washington, hundreds of youths were opening up pathways for themselves rather than shutting them down. The building served as home to the 5^th annual Bum Rush the Boards Hip-Hop Chess Tournament hosted by Words, Beats, Life (WBL), in which attendees learned how to DJ, breakdance and produce graffiti art, and above all, to compete in what has to be the world’s least nerdy chess tournament.

The event lasted most of the day and kept participants busy throughout. Upstairs there was a small exhibition of stylized chess piece sculptures created by local artists. Down two flights of stairs, WBL staffers hosted informal workshops that taught participants more about various aspects of hip-hop creative culture, such as Djing/production and breakdancing. This was probably my favorite part of the event, as they were all very engaging and interactive. The kids were engrossed and seemed to be learning a lot, and at least at the DJing workshop, the parents in attendance were just as interested to learn as their kids.

Outside, a team of artists led by WBL’s Art Director Cory Stowers worked most of the day on a very colorful multi-panel graffiti mural. And in the main room, hundreds of tables with chess boards were set up all day for both casual games and a formal tournament that took place over the course of the afternoon.

While chess and hip-hop may at first glance seem to have little connection, Bum Rush the Boards brings them together in such a way that it makes sense—it’s not about artificially making chess edgier or bolstering hip-hop’s intellectualism, it’s about getting kids excited about creativity and critical thinking, which good chess and good hip-hop both require. For more on the unusual mix of the event’s focus, I spoke with Mazi Mutafa, WBL’s Executive Director.

CS: Talk to me briefly about the history behind Bum Rush the Boards. What was your motivation behind the event? Why chess and why hip-hop?

MM: Bum Rush the Boards was created by the staff of Words Beats & Life in order to promote “strategic struggle” to the next generation of hip-hop. The name of our event was inspired by Public Enemy’s album Yo! Bum Rush the Show, released January 1st 1987.

For the creators of Bum Rush the Boards, there is a logical connection between chess and hip-hop. Hip-hop culture, like chess, is highly competitive. It is filled with opportunities to battle and compete to win over crowds, crews, and sponsors. By connecting hip-hop to chess, we have created a chess tournament that exposes youth to a culture (hip-hop) and a science (chess) that requires them to think ahead, manage their talent, and size up their adversary.

The Bum Rush the Boards Hip-Hop Chess Tournaments exist to open the minds of youth to the numerous opportunities that life can offer them as a result of critical thinking. It consists of a series of experiences geared towards helping youth to think ahead and develop a plan for their lives. By planning for the future, youth begin to understand the connections between their interests and the skills acquired through the pursuit of a post-secondary education. Beginning with the 2010 tournament, there will be a specific focus on career exploration in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and the Arts (STEMA). This is important because together, these areas of study constitute key components of the creative economy, one of the largest employment sectors in the United States.

CS: Have the youths involved taken to the idea easily? Is there any difficulty in overcoming stereotypes about what chess is ‘supposed’ to represent and what hip-hop is ‘supposed’ to represent?

MM: The 250 attendees of the fifth annual tournament got to experience the best of hip-hop and chess. At the 2010 tournament, in addition to the six rounds of chess played, we had DJ workshops, a beat-building exhibition, b-boy workshops, the beat ya feet kingz, a graffiti exhibition, and MC’ing workshop. Chess experts, people who had never before touched a board, and those who had never scratched on a turntable or used an aerosol paint can all partook in the activities. The cross-section of people who attend this truly unique chess event is a large part of what makes Bum Rush the Boards so exciting.

CS: Bum Rush the Boards had a number of interactive workshops throughout the day led by some very talented teachers. How did they get involved?

MM: The teachers at Bum Rush the Boards are all either teachers of volunteers from our after school program, the DC Urban Arts Academy. What we try to do at our event when there are youth centered activities, is to give kids from other programs a taste of what we do every day.

CS: What is your vision for the youths involved in this event? What do you hope they get out of it?

MM: In 2010, Bum Rush the Boards will connect chess to hip-hop, as always, but will also explore the impact of engineering on hip-hop culture. This will be done with support from partnerships with individuals and institutions producing the tools needed to create rap music and other artifacts. These tools range from the fuel our bodies need (for breakdancing, MC’ing, etc.) to tennis shoes (needed for hip-hop performing artists of all genres) to turntables (the instrument of choice for DJs). Many youth today understand how to use technology, but not how to develop it. Adding the STEMA component to Bum Rush allows WBL to connect the skill sets we are offering—in both these tournaments and our year-round afterschool program, the DC Urban Arts Academy—to the post-secondary educations we are encouraging youth participants to pursue.

Included in STEMA are Physics, Anatomy, Math and Design, which are all integral components of developing the tools that produce hip-hops cultural artifacts, such as clothing and set design, for example. A range of academic expertise has been responsible for allowing hip-hop culture to grow and evolve over its 30-year plus history. Technology has been part of hip-hop from its inception, through few artists played a role in the development of this technology. “Engineering a Culture” explores how the tools of hip-hop function. These workshops and presentations lay the foundation for how the STEMA fields of study apply directly to the students lives beyond hip-hop. Bum Rush’s focus on STEMA will also encompasses automotive, aeronautic and aerospace engineering.
This series of workshops, Engineering a Culture, at Bum Rush adds to the event multimedia presentations, Q&A sessions with engineers and scientists, as well as hands-on activities (interactive workshops) exploring the stages of product creation with representatives from a number of related corporations and government agencies.