Founder and Chairman, Pradagi-Foundation, NFP
Before founding his nonprofit organization, Drew Hines was already a community hero. In 2006, the Chicago native and single father of three was recognized by Tom Joyner as a “real father, real man,” and awarded $1,000, which Hines used to start the Pradagi-Foundation, NFP.
A nonprofit component of Hine’s Lee Prada Entertainment venture, Pradagi works to teach urban youth about marketing and promotional development in music, having determined that the best way to reach the urban youth is through music.
“I see how the music affects kids nowadays — they’ve got their pants hanging off their behind, they’re wearing [thousands of dollars] worth of clothes, but they can’t go to a fine restaurant,” Hines says. “They’re spending $400–$600 [on] retro Jordans, but they can’t read.”
Hines hopes that coupled with President-elect Barack Obama’s win, Pradagi can help promote more positive attitudes in the black community. “Now that we have an African American president, we can’t be hanging out on the streets. We can’t be saying, ‘The white man did this, did that,’ — Nov. 4 shut all that down,” he says.
Hines is currently working with local schools to implement his music curriculum, but hopes that his actions will encourage other black men. “I just want to implore the black male to really just sit back and reflect on where we’ve come from and what type of people we are, and to really [give] back to the community,” he says.
