About — Project KnuckleHead

Donate

CONTACT INFO

PHONE: (213) 973-3779‬

ADDRESS

Project KnuckleHead

P.O. Box 15855

Los Angeles, CA 90015

Project KnuckleHead is a national 501(c)3 non-profit organization operating community-based programs. Our mission is to inspire and empower youth and communities through the arts, education, activism, and other forms of self-expression. FREE THE YOUTH! We aim to assist in dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline by investing in the redirection of youth, and equipping them with pro-social skills for self-expression. We focus on serving youth in the (in)justice system, youth with mental health needs, and youth experiencing homelessness, and youth in underserved communities. We also support unity, healing, and liberation for Afro-descendants around the world through our Afro Unidad movement.

OUR STORY & 12 YEARS OF WORK

We began in 2012 when our founder/director was working in the juvenile courthouse in Miami, Florida. It started with youth summits at colleges and workshops about youth rights and artistic expression. We soon partnered with programs serving justice-impacted youth to deliver therapeutic music and art sessions. Our students performed at their graduations, painted murals in their facilities, attended field trips, and more. In 2013 we also started our first after-school program at HPIAM/ Linda Marquez High in Los Angeles. Students in the program started the school's first newspaper and published a compilation of art and writings. We also facilitated visual art activities and distributed art supplies to students. By the time we hosted our “Dreams Into Goal” (D.I.G.) Youth Summit at Arizona State with the Ak-Chin Indian Tribe, we had served over a thousand students through the program. Over 97% of students said they were more motivated to attend school and college because of the summit.

In 2016 we elevated the #FreeTheYouth movement and launched our Knucklehead Nation initiative. The project has provided beat-making workshops and music-making equipment to incarcerated/formerly incarcerated youth across five states. We also launched our B.E.A.T. Buddz socio-emotional learning music program that’s provided workshops and beat-making equipment to youth across seven countries. In 2018 in Los Angeles, we partnered with a drop-in center serving youth experiencing homelessness or with mental health needs to provide therapeutic music workshops on #FreetheYouth Fridays.

By 2020, low funds and the pandemic slowed down our programs until the global uprising brought awareness to the need to support Black-led nonprofits like ours. We received a $25,000 donation from Kathleen Wong (Rest in Power) that exceeded the past few years of our budget combined. In honor of the movement for Black liberation happening around the globe, our organization provided most of these funds directly to Black youth and artists. Our Freedom Fellows started the Freedom Fridays creative uprising rallies at LA City Hall in August of 2020 with the call to #AbolishStateViolence. Our #Drum4Justice has been active at least one protest a month ever since. Now we join Black Lives Matter LA every third Wednesday at their “Fund Services, Not Cops” rally to provide bucket drumming and artistic expression. We also provide free Afro-diaspora drum and dance programs monthly at the Leimert Park Art Walk.

In 2021, we launched our Afro Unidad movement with artists around the world to create deeper connections between Afro-descendants. We started an annual festival and hosted several events that have reached hundreds of people across 15 + countries. Our Knucklehead Publishing initiative is also going strong. Soon we will have six publications and we have provided over 300 free books to youth and communities.

Founder and Director

Dr. Amir Whitaker

Amir@projectknucklehead.org @DrKnuckleHead_Esq

Amir is an educator, author, human rights lawyer, and artist. He is the founder and director of Project KnuckleHead, a nonprofit organization empowering youth through music, art, and educational programs since 2012.

Often referred to as “Dr. KnuckleHead,” Amir was introduced to the criminal justice system as a child when he visited both his mother and father in prison. At age 15, Amir himself was arrested and entered the juvenile justice system. Problems at school eventually led to him being expelled. Despite these hardships, Amir went on to complete five college degrees. As a lawyer referred to as a “civil rights and education stalwart” by the Daytona Times, Amir has negotiated settlements and policy changes that have improved the lives of youth across the country. Amir is currently a senior policy attorney with the ACLU of Southern California. He has taught varying grade levels and in different educational settings for over a decade, and has held teaching certifications in Florida, California, and New Jersey. He has written for publications like TIME Magazine and Washington Post. Amir's autobiography, “The KnuckleHead’s Guide to Escaping the Trap” has been featured on ABC News and in The New Yorker. As an artist, Amir has collaborated with musicians around the world while studying and teaching styles of music and dance of the Afro diaspora. His art has been displayed in galleries, libraries, and billboards around the world. He is the co-founder of Afro Unidad, a Black cultural kinship movement with 50+ ambassadors across 14 countries. He received his doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California, juris doctorate from the University of Miami, and his bachelors from Rutgers University. His s resume/CV can be downloaded here. Learn more at www.drknucklehead.com.