June 22nd, 2024 - 10:20PM Written by Brody Campbell

The vibe is always something special at Andthenyou, and this Saturday was no exception. Even tho the crowd was smaller,  gathered around on what I’m sure would soon be a packed dance floor, celebrating night 2 of their 2 year anniversary in the space. The conversation had no less importance. 

Moderated by Kobi Andrews (a notorious Hamilton “street philosopher”) the round table featured from right to left: Dee, 1/3 of Clear Eyes Collective, Eddie Lartey from Hamilton You Poets, Khadija Hamidu, founder of Melanin Market, Gabe & Paulo, founders of Andthenyoudie Records (& owners of Andthenyou where we were all gathered) And beside them was Trina from Monday press, and Geneva from Trema

After a brief intro we moved on to the age old Hamilton question, “What high school did you go it?” As they circled through it came to the topic of the new “Super Schools” and how they in hand cause the erosions of Schools like Barton & Catherdal. Eddie mentioned how when he was in schools there was only 2 books that referenced black men like himself. And how he wants to see representation in the schools and books presented to kids. 

Hamilton You Poets are a community gathering in the belief that all people have important stories to tell. They include people from different backgrounds who have come together to understand the importance of our own stories and those of others]

Paulo mentioned how back when they were getting the labels started the people over at Hamilton You Poets really guided them adding that they taught them that “if you’re going to say it, say it with your chest.” Between Eddie & Paulo joked how old him saying that made them feel. 

Trina brought up how they started Monday Press post covid and have really found that people want something to do. She mentions how much of an open space they’ve been for the Queer, Trans, LGBTQ community. Adding how their audience really needed a place like this. The same was said about Andthenyou and how welcoming they are to that community. These spaces are important and need to be highlighted because not every space feels like this for the LGBTQ community. Not everywhere is as accepting for people to express themselves and be their true self. But when there is that space available the community shows support. 

This brought up the late addition to the panel, Geneva, she was given an opportunity by Paulo and Gabe to host a random Tuesday night at Andthenyou and that has blossomed into something the community loves. She now runs Techo Tuesday every week at Andthenyou and Trema a spotlight for DJ’s out of Monday Press. When she was done speaking about it Paulo jumped in saying “Geneva’s being a bit humble, we get a lot of interest from Dj’s wanting to be a part of Techno Tuesday, who see a crowd of kids being themselves and really showing up on a Tuesday night.” 

“They’ve completely revitalized the techno scene” added Trina

Gabe then also added that Hamilton seems to have a huge opening when it comes to accepting people and their passions. Dee emphasized adding “what I would have done to have spaces like that when I was young.”

Paulo added that for the future he wanted to do more stuff like this to chit chat and bring people together, & shit on Toronto. 

Kobi purposed the idea to the group tp keep talking about the future as these towers go up, expanding on the idea of how much the city is changing,

And as Eddie talked about it he mentioned how he was proud to say he was from Hamilton and proud to be apart of it arts community, but urged that the thing it needed most was more funding. And I think this is where the benefit of having a conversation like this happened in real time. Because following his point of more funding being needed, Khadija brought up how there was actually a lot of funding opportunities but they are sometimes just difficult to apply for and put in the labour it takes to get them. Paulo & Gabe echoed this when talking about the City Enrichment grant they were able to get and how these things aren’t always accessible and they wish they knew more about the grants that we’re available and how much it could have helped them earlier on. Trina said even when it comes to completing the applications a lot of times they are written and laid out in a way that makes it difficult to submit and exclusionary in itself. She followed this thought by adding that she wished there was more place even just to learn about how to submit these applications. Again Khadija jumped in withholding no resources mentioning that Sonic Unyon does do some information sessions regarding the topic, mentioning how they see great success with grants when it comes to things like Supercrawl, she shouted out Lisa La Rocco. She also added that Centre3 is another fixture in the city that is helpful when it comes to these sort of thing. 

And it all happened quick and my phone died just as Eddie finished saying we needed more funding so my notes came to an end. But by him raising that concern and Khadija choosing to not with hold her resources everyone in the room learned something. Something of deep value beyond their inspirations or how they got here. It happened naturally and could only happen because the space was given for it to happen. 

So s/o Paulo & Gabe for hosting something like this on the anniversary of them having the space. Me and Paulo briefly spoke before I left and told him how I thought them having more afternoon conversations like this would welcome a whole new crowd. A crowd who might not be the same as the ones who I’m sure are lined up at the door as I’m writing this.