The annual Do Something Awards, held June 4 at New York’s legendary Apollo Theater, honored young people (under 25, in case you were wondering if you make the cut) who do extraordinary things to change their communities and the world.
Five finalists won grants and scholarships worth $10,000 each, and a grand-prize winner scored a $100,000 grant to go out and kick ass, growing their projects and increasing their already-huge impact. Sounds like a sweet nonprofit simply saying, “Go, kids!”
It’s not.
Do Something is a bold organization saying that young people in our country have the power to “rock social change” (CEO Nancy Lublin shouted it from the rooftop, aka: theater stage) and be the leaders of today, not tomorrow. In fact, Do Something is quite sure that they already are.
Meet the winning stars
At the Apollo the audience, activists and cynics alike had their jaws on the floor when presenters — from Usher to Amber Tamblyn, Lauren Bush to Nick Cannon — detailed the kids’ work. And the “kids” were, without a doubt, the stars of the night.
There’s Eric Glustrom, 24, who turned a rejected Amnesty International grant into a fire under his tail to pursue a documentary film project. Once in Uganda, meeting the refugees he wanted to make a movie about, he realized that there was more work to be done than just telling the story. Following the guidance of Ugandans who spoke for themselves about what it would take to help them feel empowered to rebuild their communities, he founded Educate! and supports mentoring and schooling for young locals who are letting their dreams fly.
Then there’s Darius Weems, star of Darius Goes West, a film documenting the wheelchair-bound 15-year-old’s road trip from Atlanta to L.A. in hopes of getting his ride pimped on MTV. The film is a cult sensation, and Darius is giving The Jonas Brothers a run for their money by making schoolgirls swoon. Watch the film (check out the trailer vehicle here), laugh, have your heart warmed, and walk away with an understanding of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The disease that crippled Weems is terminal and promises to take his life too young. It’s also the same disease that took his brother’s life.
Next, meet Marvelyn Brown, who tested positive for HIV while in high school. Years later, she would use the trauma, discrimination, ostracizing and fear that defined the following years and turn them into activism and empowerment. She wrote a book, The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful and HIV Positive and hit the road advocating testing for young people. With 200,000 teens tested through her programs (10 percent of whom learned they were also HIV positive and were able to take responsible health care action), Marvelyn won’t stop until she reaches 1,000,001, because that 1 million just isn’t enough.
Last but certainly not least, take David Burstein, founder of 18 in ’08, a campaign spawned by his film of the same name, urging young voters to grab hold of their right to vote and have their voices heard. His work is responsible for a huge influx of youth voter registration and activism. The ’08 election numbers can’t hide his impact.
If you aren’t inspired enough, you oughta meet the night’s winner, Maggie Doyne, who gave her life over to serving orphaned refugees in Nepal — when she herself was just 18.
Show stoppers
Grammy winners and TV heartthrobs fell under the shadows of these outrageously ambitious and genuinely cool young people. But awards shows are not awards shows (and a night at the Apollo not a night worth remembering) without a little bling and showmanship.
Akon covered both bases and brought the house to its feet. He sweated, he danced, he dove into the crowd face first, he sang along to his backing-track shamelessly, doing a spectacular duet with himself. Event organizer Cari Smulyan of Do Something said, “Tonight there will be 600 people over 40 downloading Akon songs on iTunes.” That’s quite likely the truth. And quite a feat.
Civic Leadership honoree Usher acted as cool as he possibly could, smirking his way onto the stage, hiding behind sunglasses. The crowd went wild.
And almost-emo pop duo Boys Like Girls had the teens singing along … and the “old people” (as Do Something officially calls those of us over 25) feeling very, very out of touch.
The house was peppered with personalities as varied as Real Housewives of New York City (Ramona and Countess de Lesseps, no less!) to Lil Mama (don’t ask me!?) to Corbin Bleu (of High School Musical fame — cue squealing here!). Razzle-dazzle and open bar and all, nothing really came close to blowing minds the way these honorees’ stories did.
Superstars
The Do Something Awards (previously the BRICK Awards) aired on the CW network in ’07 and was incorporated into last year’s Teen Choice Awards. The ’09 show was not televised, but as reported exclusively by Tonic before it went public last night, VH-1 CEO Tom Calderone announced that the network will be airing next year’s Awards.
Don’t go feeling like you’re unworthy and lazy just because these real life superheroes are all under 25. (OK, fine, indulge in a little self-pity. It’s only natural.) Every single one made a point of expressing their gratitude and humility, their eagerness to learn and empower, not preach or manipulate. And every single one stressed that they came from normal lives and families and felt compelled to take a stand on issues they care about rather than sit by passively. Which is totally achievable. Even for us “old people.”
We don’t have to be celebrities or millionaires to inspire and make change. In fact, the celebrities and millionaires at the Apollo last night were more than humbled by the kids from Boulder, from Jersey, from Atlanta … the kids from “average” and “normal” who are anything but.