Meet Drew Drake, Teaching Artist
An in-depth interview about growing up, finding his authentic voice, and fighting for social justice.
Were you always an educator or was there a transition from artist to teaching artist? If so, why the change?
Ever since my undergraduate years, I knew I wanted to be an educator. Growing up, I didn’t have any black male teachers until I made it to college. Billy C. Hines was the Head of the Music Department at Elizabeth City State University (an HBCU in Eastern, NC). He was also my voice teacher and university choir director. Having that representation and relationship with a teacher who looked like me was groundbreaking. It was also powerful to see an educator who is actively practicing his craft (as an amazing baritone singer and conductor) and evolving as an artist while simultaneously teaching. It made his pedagogy even more impactful, to see your educator practicing the skills that they are teaching you in the classroom.
Of your various artistic talents, which one do you feel most drawn to? Why?
I’ve always been a writer and have always been interested in hearing different people’s stories and experiences. I think writing, and especially poetry, has always been a place that has allowed underrepresented voices to be heard. During my graduate school experience at University of Tennessee, poetry became a safe space for me. It allowed me to tell stories that allowed me and black folx in the Knoxville community to be centered and seen.
What would you say to a young artist who is hesitant to tell their story, possibly because they feel unrepresented in the mainstream?
Just start. You don’t know who is waiting for you to tell your story. It’s like the cycle of art. Once you witness something different and an artist comes outside of their comfort zone, it allows the next person to feel safe to do the same. Tupac Shakur said, “I will not change the world, but I will spark the brain of the one who will.” That’s a motto I live by - and such beautiful advice for artists.
What non-educational projects are you working on right now?
Whew, chile, that’s a loaded question. I think all my work is educational to some extent. I am a co-founder and vice president of an organization called Black Greek Poets, a poetry collective consisting of members of historically black greek fraternities and sororities in the national pan-hellenic council, better known as the Divine 9. We center ourselves in using poetry and community engagement as tools to facilitate needed social change in our communities. I am also co-founder of the UTK Alumni Reading Series, a collaboration with Hear Me Roar Theatre. This is an intergenerational virtual space where current undergrads, graduate students, alumni, community members and guest artists from outside communities come together to collaborate on BIPOC-centered work. Alongside play readings, this initiative is focused on collective talkbacks after every performance, allowing the community space to unpack the various themes in each performance. Using safe space practices, we encourage the audience to deeply engage in the themes of the plays and see how the play affects them individually and how it speaks to deeper issues in the local community in Knoxville, TN. I am also a member of Fight for Our Lives NYC, a chapter of Peoples Strike Coalition, which actively fights against Covid-Capitalism.
You teach across a wide variety of demographics and settings - from empowerment organizations, to schools, to correctional facilities. What have you found to be universal about those experiences?
One thing that is consistent through all the spaces I teach in, is that I always let my students know that I will learn from them as much as they will learn from me. Just because I wear the title of “instructor” doesn’t mean I’m exempt from continuing to learn from the students’ experiences. From teaching in correctional facilities, to senior centers, to grade schools, to higher education institutions, there are always things to learn. I think of teaching as gardening and I believe the best gardeners don’t know all the answers. The thing that makes gardeners successful is their willingness to listen to the soil and the needs of each specific plant. But the key is that they listen.
Drew Drake (he/him) is a Teaching Artist for the Storytelling Project, Life Jacket’s educational outreach initiative that teaches students in underserved communities how to tell true, brave, and authentic stories. Drew is an actor, poet and educator from Huntsville, AL, focused on creating art that facilitates healthy dialogue for people of color. His biggest inspirations are Zora Neale Hurston and Fannie Lou Hamer. Drew was last seen in the New York Times Critic’s Pick, TJ Loves Sally Forever at JACK Theatre in February and the independent film, Privilege, in May. Drew is currently teaching with Urban Word NYC (Poetry and Literary Arts Empowerment), Illuminart (Arts and Theatre Organization working with Middle Schools and High Schools in Staten Island), and Rehabilitation Through the Arts (an arts empowerment organization serving prisons in NY State) where he teaches at the Taconic Women’s Correctional Facility. His teaching focuses on eliminating the elitism of euro-centric and white-centered art and creating greater accessibility to different mediums of art for people of color by using Hip Hop and Black Culture as a means of exploration of English Language Arts, Theatre, and Creative Writing. Drew also released a Hip Hop EP, Dope Boyz Love Hondas, in January and is working on a follow up Untitled EP set to release this fall. To learn more about Drew, click here.
Learn more about Life Jacket Theatre Company.
