On March 9, 2017 I had the honor of
introducing Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, a founding member of the early hip hop
group Run-D.M.C. Young and old of all backgrounds gathered together at the
Leeds Place of North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center in Westbury for a
community forum.
If you don’t already know, DMC is a hip
hop pioneer, a rap poet and an inspiring prophet. The packed house at the Leeds
Place got to experience all three in a two hour tour-de-force in which Darryl
taught us about the history of hip hop, delighted us with rap lyrics and moved
us with intimate stories of resiliency.
When I introduced Darryl, I told the audience
that I learned that his favorite things to do as a child were to read comic
books and pretend to be a superhero. In fact, I told them, he now produces
comic books under the DMC – Darryl Makes Comics – label.
Darryl’s comics are not about
traditional superheroes like Batman, Superman, Spiderman or the Incredible
Hulk. Darryl, I learned, believes that there are heroes in everyday life with
powerful stories to tell. Just like everyone in the room tonight, I said.
Darryl is 52 years old, six feet tall
and solidly built, with muscular arms bulging from his tight black t-shirt. He
spoke for two hours without a break, moving about energetically without
breaking a sweat.
He inspired the crowd with the story
of when he was a young boy growing up in Hollis, Queens, and he was a self-described
Catholic School nerd who wore thick-framed glasses and read comic books all the
time. He said he liked school.
He gave a great history lesson about
the birth and meaning of hip hop. He described how neighborhood kids who had
little in the way of physical resources brought music and art to the parks and
streets by plugging turntables and
speakers into light poles, making dance floors out of cardboard boxes and
creating street art by painting and drawing on walls.
In his talk, Darryl encouraged the young
people in the room with transcendent and core messages of hip hop: “Always be open to do something different. It could change
your life.”
Darryl spoke about his unexpected
rise to fame and fortune, exhorting the young people to develop what they like
to do, try new things, take chances and, most important, to know that “no
matter what you’re going through, you’re worth something.”
He went on to say that despite his
early rise to fame and fortune, at the age of 35 he discovered that he was
adopted and was a foster child. Around the same time he went through a period
of suicidal depression and became addicted to alcohol.
When he finally sought professional help,
he discovered that he had been suppressing powerful feelings his whole life,
especially things that angered him. Despite the powerful lyrics in his raps, he
said that he never wanted to make waves in his personal relationships.
Some of the lessons he learned were: “You
have to express your truth. It’s normal to feel. Release what you’re going
through. Your situation doesn’t define who you are.”
In time, with the help of his
adoptive parents, Darryl met his biological mom who told him that she gave him
up so that he could have a better life.
In the end, before Darryl patiently
signed autographs, posed for photos and chatted with kids and parents, I closed
the meeting by saying, “DMC gave his music to the world. And, tonight Darryl
gave us his heart.”
Andrew Malekoff
Appeared in Long Island Weekly, April 2017
https://longislandweekly.com/no-matter-youre-going-youre-worth-something/
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