Kids are often confused by the injustice they see in the world, and many of them have an impulse to do something about it. As responsible parents and engaged citizens, it’s our responsibility to support these big ideas by seizing, believing in and evangelizing our child’s BIG idea for a more just society.
This is something my wife Angie Covarrubias Aguilar and I learned while helping our 6 year old-daughter, Maya, start The Cozy Collection. The Cozy Collection is a project that gathers donated socks and blankets for the homeless in the San Gabriel Valley.
So, what counts as a “BIG” idea?
A BIG idea is one that tackles a global challenge at the local level. Focusing on BIG ideas helps your kid understand the connections between the larger world and her community.
Issues like poverty, access to water and jobs, clean energy and civil rights all have both local and global faces.
1. Seize
Listen for what excites and/or concerns your kid and then grab hold. Listening is passive but SEIZING AN IDEA requires a layer of attentiveness that prompts the listener (YOU) to ask questions.
The Cozy Collection was started after Maya noticed a homeless person at a freeway exit. She wanted to help by giving him the money she’d set aside for my birthday gift. Angie Covarrubias Aguilar seized the moment and asked Maya what she might do that would have a greater impact than a one time gift. Maya decided she wanted to help the homeless stay warm during Winter and The Cozy Collection was founded.
Our kids will surprise us with their kindness and concern for others. Let’s seize that.
2. Believe
True belief is an act of both mind and body, faith and works. In order to give your kids’ big ideas some legs, you’ll have to provide the foundational support. C’mon, they’re just kids after all.
You need to believe your work will have an impact. And you need to back that up with some action. So, your kid wants to start a project to clean up the pollution at his school. Now, it’s on you to put something together to keep the momentum. Don’t let it die with you, Dad. Who will you email? What goal can you set? What’s the deadline?
Our first order of business was to decide on a name and Maya jumped right in with The Cozy Collection. We found an organization that we could support with the donations, The Mercy House in Ontario and set a date for delivery.
We reached out to family, friends and local businesses. The Cozy Collection gathered over 1k pairs of socks in the first year, 3k pairs in the 2nd year and we’re hoping for 5k pairs this year.
Don’t let doubt ruin this opportunity to have a life long service project with your family.
3. Evangelize
Tell people what your family is up to. They want to help. Let them surprise you. Start an FB page, attend parenting conferences, tell the local AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization), tell your kids’ principals and teachers, neighbors and businesses.
Open your self up to the joy that a big idea can bring to your family.
This September, Maya received the Claremont Community Hero Award at the LA County Fair. And now her 5 year old brother, Joauqin, has joined the effort.
Joy, joy, joy.
You can learn more about The Cozy Collection by watching the video below:
If you’ve ever driven on the 5 South to San Diego I’m sure you have seen these signs from the freeway.
Who knew that about 5 minutes up the street from here there would be an amazing park for the whole family? Cedar Grove Park in Tustin Ranch is just 10 minutes from Santa Ana and is full of nature, trails, open space and distinct play areas for kids!
Cedar Grove Park 11385 Pioneer Rd Tustin, CA 92782
Run kids, run!
My daughter is a ball of energy; this park has so much to do and see that when we strategically plan a visit before bedtime it’s the earliest and easiest bedtime of the week!
There are three main play areas for the kids, a basketball court, huge cedar grove trail, an amphitheater, and a covered entertaining space (with tables and benches, we see people host baby showers and bday parties here every weekend). You and your family can spend all day here.
The first kid’s area is the covered play structure where they can be heard planning their latest pirate ship attack:
This area is really well thought out and is beyond safe. All the kids seem to be drawn to the reptile and amphibian residents who (I’m not gonna lie) are a little creepy but inspire great adventures.
The second area is over a troll’s bridge and has some modern art looking climbing structures and two baby and toddler swings.
This park makes me wish I was a kid again!
Play area #3 has been taken over by the kids but is an exercise space for everyone. Maybe one day I will be bold enough to work out with my 4 yr old…hmmm…on second thought let the kids have it!
At the back of the park is a trail that leads to an 8 mile hike called the Peters Canyon Hiking Trail. You can explore aquatic animals all year from this underground spring-fed creek. The park and the surrounding canyon areas are so expansive it’s easy for one to find some zen and a nice escape from the city here.
As you know, hip hop is heralded for its excesses. Rappers are expected to flout convention, law, even common sense. Parenting, though, involves restraint, restriction and reflection; managing that tension isn’t easy but some hip hop pops have found a way. Today, BBD sits down with Elias Wallace, the LA based vocalist of the Copenhagen based hip hop group, DaFuniks.
I met Elias many moons ago at The Foundation Funkollective open mic in the 909. We share a mutual interest in theology, social justice and wackness-aversion.
Tell us about your family.
My wife is named Monica. We have 3 children. One girl and two boys. My daughter is 11 and getting tall and long like her mother. She’s already 5’4″ and looking like a runway model. Scared son. I’ll avoid the sexist cliches about having a baseball bat or gun, but I will say I’m trying to raise a confident, strong woman who will make her own choices and choose the RIGHT kind of boy when she gets to that point. My 2 boys are 9 and 5. They are handsome, bright, and above average in everything. I know, all parents think this but it’s crazy, they excel in sports, music, and art and they are all social. All of my children are bilingual, speaking reading and writing Spanish and English. They are half Mexican and half American Caucasian hybrid–meaning they are Irish, Scottish, Dutch, Syrian, and Native American. They also study Mandarin Chinese on Saturdays so they can add a non European language to their lexicon. I want them to have that Nas state of mind and think the world is theirs–but with the language skills to make it happen.
What does the ideal Sunday morning look like for the fam bam?
An ideal Sunday morning for my family consists of waking up, me making breakfast for everyone while my wife sleeps in. I’ll make sure everyone has eaten and gotten dressed for church. Then my wife will come out looking radiant and make sure the kids have put lotion on. “Si poniste crema?” shouts go out in 3 directions. The rest of the day is spent together and it doesn’t really matter what is being done. Being together and spending time with one another is a big part of our family’s happiness.
Family Amusement Park Trip: Disneyland or Six Flags Magic Mountain?
Right now my kids are pretty small so Disneyland, as much as I personally abhor it, would be a better choice than Magic Mountain. Nothing worse than taking kids to a park where you have to drop down a couple days wages just to get in, and then have to tell your kids, you can’t ride that one and then do the parent relay games—you stay with this kid, I’ll stay with them, tag team at the ride exit in half an hour.
What would your kid’s say is the best dish you make? How did you learn how to make it?
My kids would probably say my Carne Asada is great. It’s not healthy so I don’t make it too often but there are enough UFC fights and boxing matches on for me to have it every couple of weeks. My first time having carne asada was when I was 16. My future mother in law made it for me and I immediately fell in love. I figured if there was a God in heaven, there would be a taco man at the heavenly banquets. I plan to be standing with a Cerveza in my hand right by the taco man. Later I learned to love adobada, pastor, and many others but I prefer to grill up some Asada.
Did you ever consult a parenting book or website during the child rearing years? Or, was it more go with the flow and tradition?
I never consulted a parenting book or website but I have a BA in Education so I have read a lot of child psychology already. I do not rear my children in the same way that I was raised. My parents were great but my father was from the South and there is a lot of ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ thinking there. I was whooped a lot. I don’t spank my own children and prefer positive reinforcement and cognitive coaching. I want my children to be sophisticated thinkers not resentful authoritarians. That isn’t to suggest that all people who were disciplined in this way turned out like that, I just think that you are trying to discipline and correct behavior not coerce behavior via threat of violence.
Favorite Hip Hop group?
Favorite hip hop group—wow. I don’t have one Favorite hip hop group honestly. Hip hop has a timeline and I’m on it. ATCQ was my favorite for a long time so I guess they could be there. Today I have so many different groups that I love. I really dig what Killer Mike and EL P do with Run the Jewels. I really like the Roots. In terms of most influential I see groups like Freestyle Fellowship and Organized Konfusion as really important. It really depends on my mood.
I have had a ton of amazing experiences on stage in France. I’ve toured there the last 3 years and met some amazing people, artists and fans. I’ll share a small show of about 300 at a place called Run ar Puns in Bretagne, France. It was a small ancient venue surrounded by beautiful countryside. The venue wasn’t much to look at and looked a bit worn out. In France, sometimes that is a great sign—it means people come there. We played that night around 11 or so the crowd seemed pretty ‘iffy’ based on the really good band that went before us. They didn’t really seem ‘into it’. But when we got up to rock the whole place jumped off hardcore from intro to the constant screams for more songs. We played our whole set. They cheered for 5 minutes for extra. We played 15 minutes extra. They cheered for 10 minutes fore more. We came out and played even more. We just had to stop after that so that we wouldn’t make the promoter or venue operator mad at us but the crowd was off the chain.
What’s the family up to this Summer?
We’re taking a tour van and driving to a bunch of national parks and camping. Pray for me…and them.
If you’re taking a road trip this Summer, play music from Elias’ newest project, Otis Stacks. Big Brown Dad is digging the West Coast vibe on this one.
As the name implies, Hip Hop Pops is a series of interviews with Dads who’ve carved out careers in hip hop while raising a family.
That shit aint easy but some of us be bout it bout it. Peep my Hip Hop Pops interviews with Propaganda and Red Cloud, for examples.
Although some might be tempted critique hip hop culture as morally negligent (if not worse), one of the first verses I committed to memory was 2 Pac’s poignant critique of sexual abuse and unintended pregnancy. 25 years later, this cut still hits hella hard:
“Brenda’s got a baby but Brenda’s barely got a brain/
damn shame the girl can’t even spell her name/
‘That’s not our problem, that’s up to Brenda’s family’/
But let me tell you how it affects our whole community”
After listening to this cut again, I forgot how much of an impact it had on me as a youngster. It’s another example of the conscious hip hop that was taking root in the early 90’s.
Today’s Hip Hop Pops, Judah 1, is an extension of that early hip hop consciousness.
Her crown was too heavy. We were at 3cm of dilation for 3 days. So, we opted to induce labor. We prayed, we were ready, we entered boldly, I think. Alas, Aariyah crown was too great so we delivered by C-Section. That when the most glorious scream happened. A star scream, truly. Bless God.
BBD: How did you decide on a name?
Until the day before the ultrasound we were convinced we were having a boy. We just knew it. She wanted to named him David Jr. I wanted to name him “Amun” or “Djeli” “Jonah” “Judah” I had so many names. Me and her Mom argued. It was not joyous. The night before her Mom said, maybe she’s a girl…and that thought had been resonating in my Spirit. She said “If it’s a girl, let call her Oriyah” and I agreed but the name sounded familiar. Ariyah is a name of a Fela Kuti song. I suggested, “Aariyah,” in Hebrew “Ari” is Lion and “YAH” is God or the air.
BBD: What’s the best piece of advice your Mom/Dad gave you about parenting?
My father really didn’t have much to say. My mom proud I finally had a child and overwhelmed that it’s a girl. Just love her and make the time for her. They are both convinced I’ll be a great Father with good lessons.
BBD: What’s your view on spanking?
We will not spank our daughter because spanking is not necessary. I’ve never had to hit anyone my entire life, my voice should be enough.
BBD: What type of music does she like?
I play classical for her and hip hop instrumentals and freestyle over them. She loves it. FELA! And her Mother plays Little Dragon for her.
BBD: How has your poetry been impacted by Fatherhood?
I have yet to find words to describe the joy in my heart. I sing to my daughter. She literally takes my words from my lungs. I couldn’t say much more than “Hey You” for the first 2 months. Literally can’t talk. Strange. But we sing. Her eyes cause such a stillness in my spirit. No words. We hum.
Before Maverick and Goose were slapping together uncoordinated high-fives, the San Gabriel Valley had squadrons of Mexican-American kids strafing imaginary flight towers from the grounds of Palm View Park in West Covina.
You might be surprised to learn that the plane at Palm View is an actual F-86D Sabre Jet, the backbone of American mainland defense in the 50s. During the Korean conflict, the F-86D made the MiG 15 its yeoja.
The Palm View Park Plane in service circa 1955
In the early 60’s, enterprising civic organizations from West Covina coordinated the relocation of the plane to Palm View. They’ll be happy to know, kids from far and wide have been pissing in it, on it and around it for decades.
But sunlight and time are disinfectants, so I let Joaquin have at it.
Dad is my Co-Pilot
Eject! Eject! Eject!
The park is good insofar as it has 2 distinct play areas for kids of varying dexterity.
Play Area #1
Play Area #2
it’s empty bc Joaquin doesn’t play that baby shit.
While the park provided plenty of options for fun, we were appalled by the amount of trash littering the playground. I took pictures.
Empty Bag of Weed
Picnic @ Palm View
Then Dessert!
I started to see a story emerge in the trash. Someone got faded, ate lunch then dessert and then bounced.
As concerned as I was by the litter, I wasn’t bout to pick that shit up.
The Lord knows I wasn’t bout to touch this:
But this? Wait, what is…that…
Presidents found dead at Palm View Park
Now that’s some trash I CAN pick up. I asked Joaquin if we should take the money to the park office or blow it on ice cream and he asked what time Baskin Robbins opened.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m as disgusted with the millennials’ addiction to technology as you are.
But before there was this:
There was this:
As a youngster, I devoured the back of cereal boxes with as much enthusiasm as when I plowed through their sugary deliverances. I loved the games: serpentine mazes, simple word searches, even the confusing games of tic-tac-toe with Cheerios.
At the time I wasn’t aware the back of the cereal boxes were primarily a way for marketers to keep consumers engaged kids enslaved to their brand. And for this reason, cereal boxes are great cultural artifacts; they provide a snapshot of what advertisers of a given age think children of a given age want to see.
So, as I’m sitting in the kitchen waiting for my children to bum-rush the set, I thought I’d take a closer look at the cereal boxes in my house.
Let’s start with Posts’ Honeycomb.
The front of the box is straight-forward. While shopping, though, I noticed nearly half of the cereal boxes are yellow. And that’s definitely no accident.
The font takes its cues from the rounded letters of old school street art, with COMB looking a lot like BOMB. I can’t front, I like the idea of a honey bomb. I wonder why, though, they felt bound by grammar conventions and included a hyphen between honey-comb (which is one word, Honeycomb), when they felt free to flout the rules of capitalization?
Now, let’s turn to the back of the box.
RU Honeycomb 2 UR Core? Again, I’m confounded by their arbitrary adherence to grammar conventions. IDK about U, but I never conjoin RU. Who does that? And if RU means “Are You” then doesn’t UR mean “You are?” By attempting to speak in a youthful vernacular, they’ve confused the shit out of us all.
IT’S NOT WHAT YOU DO, IT’S HOW YOU MAKE IT YOURS. Solid. I can live with this tag line.
MAD ABOUT MUSIC? I think they’re using “MAD” as slang for “CRAZY” which is slang for “DEEPLY INTERESTED” which is “GROOVY” if not 20 years outdated.
ARE YOU A GAMING GURU?No, I’m 8 years old and I don’t know what a GURU is but I do know what a desperate attempt at alliteration looks like!
LIVE TO SKATE? You know it. Why do you ask? Seriously. What does my interest in skating have to do with the taste of your cereal? If you’d provided a maze on the back of the box, at least I could’ve pretended to be skating my way through the labyrinth. But this here reeks of pandering, as does the picture of the skater who needs a haircut, badly.
And what would heavy handed marketing material be without a call-to-action?
SHARE YOUR VIDEOS, PHOTOS AND IDEAS SHOWING US WHAT MAKES YOU AN ORIGINAL LIKE HONEYCOMB.
It used to be the case that parents and hip hop just didn’t mix; the regal Fresh Prince of Philly taught us as much.
Even today, some people wrongly assume the spirit of hip hop and the spirit of fatherhood are antithetical. Hip Hop Pops prove that assumption wick, wick, wack!
Today, Big Brown Dad sits down with Red Cloud, a west coast rhyme maven with Native American and Mexican heritage. Red Cloud has toured North America with his partner in rhyme, Crystle Lightning, as Lightning Cloud. Lightning Cloud recently won Power 106 “Who’s Next? Battle for the Best,” beating out over 1,000 submissions from across the country.
BBD: Tell us about your son. Did you think about naming him after you?
I have a 5 year old boy (6 next month). His name’s Isaiah Hawthorne and he’s the love of my life! The kid is a genius. Extremely into monster trucks, dinosaurs, Plants Vs Zombies and football! I didn’t want to give him my government name – Henry belongs in the 1920s! But his middle is my hometown, so booya!
kisses > disses
What’s his favorite food?
My son loves grilled cheese, pizza and plain old bean and cheese burritos from Taco Bell, kinda like a lil baby stoner.
Eat Street > Beat Street
How is your son most like you?
He’s very particular and can be a little obsessive compulsive and anxious when he doesn’t have control. But he’s most like me when we are drawing – loves drawing and that’s one of my things.
What does he think about his Dad being a rapper?
He’s been to 3 of my shows and he loves it!! He’ll go up there on stage with me and Crystle and hand out CDs to the crowd for us! He’ll jump around and dance- he really likes it when he can go to his dad’s rap concerts!
microphone friends > microphone fiends
Who fathered your rhyme style?
Shock G of Digital Underground and Brother J of XClan. I have two Dads… Is that a lil gay?
I’m Your Father, Red!
Man, I named your Red, BLACK AND GREEN Cloud! What happened?
Favorite TV Dad?
Homer Simpson bro! Hands down!! Best TV dad ever!
Big Daddy Kane or Father MC?
Big Daddy Kane !!! Better MC, better discography and better performer! Plus me and Crystle Lightning love doing “Very Special” when we go to karaoke!
Hip Hop Pops is a series of interviews profiling dads who’ve carved out careers in Hip Hop while raising a family.
Ed OG, in nineteenth hundred and ninety-first year of our Lord, said it best:
Some people wrongly assume the spirt and posture of hip hop is antithetical to the spirt and posture of fatherhood. This series will prove that assumption wick, wick, wack.
First on the mic is Humble Beastrecording artist and San Gabriel Valley’s very own, Propaganda. He’s kicked rhymes from Cameroon to Cameron Park, and has helped pack out venues all across the country. His firebrand delivery and lyrical dexterity has proven him to be one of the dopest spitting out of the west coast.
Today, we’re chopping it up about our favorite hood, father hood.
Tell us about your daughter.
Luna’s 9, high energy and loves to laugh. And she’s never, I repeat, NEVER at a loss of words. She’s passionate, affectionate and admires her mom. She’s a music lover. If I were to predict, she will live out of a suitcase touring the world.
What makes your relationship special?
We share a love for the arts. I’m her ‘step-dad’ but we don’t use that type of language in our home. We say ‘birth dad’ and ‘home dad.’ But there was a time when she called me her real dad and her birth dad step dad because it just made more sense to her like that.
What’s your favorite thing to do together?
We love to make-up songs.
What has she taught you?
She taught me to slow down. I have a way of not letting people finish their thought because “I know” what they are trying to say. She taught me that people need to know they are being heard.
What does she think about your hip hop career?
She doesn’t really know anything different. But when I showed up on Pandora, it hit her that her Daddy was for real a professional artist. She definitely enjoys the benefits and unique opportunities she gets. But my traveling is a little tuff for her.
Is there a song or verse on a song where you mention her?
Who would you say “fathered” your rap style?
Foundation Funkollective, Project Blowed and Native Tongues.
Who is your favorite TV dad?
This one is tough…maybe Hank Hill from King of the Hill. I think he’s the most dynamic in the sense that he learns and also stands his ground. He’s just doing his best to lead his family while maintaining his identity. Plus he’s funny.
Big Daddy Kane or Ol Dirty Bastard?
Kane for bars and moxie and ODB for confidence.
ODB purportedly has a fatherless style.
Download Propaganda’s entire catalog FOR FREE and stay connected with him via Instagram @prophiphop.
I’ve had my eye on Kelby Park for sometime. It offers a vast expanse of green space, perfect for picnics, soccer, football, racing, freeze-tag, three-flies-up, volleyball and indelible grass stains.
The distance from parking lot to playground is 91 furloughs.
Kelby’s playground, though, can be a source of worry for parents with kids under 5 years old.
And the Devil said, “This play area has been designed for children 5-12 years of age.”
According to the signage, the playground is rated for kids up to 12 years old. First, If your 12 year old is still having fun with swings and slides, consider yourself very lucky…or very unlucky, I can’t call it.
On my view, parks in Covina would be better utilized if they included kids ages 3 and up in their design plans and let the 10-12 year olds commence with drug use and snap chat. Really tho.
Of course, since Jocko can’t read, and because I have unreasonable expectations of my kid(s), I allowed him to rush the playground unencumbered by the shackles of fear…and reason.
“Dad, do you have the Kaiser card on you?”
Now, as far as I can tell, Kelby Park has the best slides in Covina. Take a look at Big Red and Lil’ Red Rivers. Jocko rode both of them till the paint started to rub off on his clothes.
Big Red: high velocity, difficult dismount.
Lil Red Rivers: slippery but scalable.
But their swing set is wack. It lacks child seats for heaven’s sake!
Swingle and ready to Mingle.
But what disturbs me most about the park is the lackluster signage–as in, it can’t be read from the street because it lacks an adequate amount of luster. This must change…now!
mas luster, por favor.
Please, if you love your children, send your donations to the Mas Luster Foundation and help us fight the blight.
