WS Chronicle

In recent years, many young people have not come to the church as the previous generation did.  Darryl Gordon, creator of D Unity and D Unity X nonprofit organizations, has addressed this issue by using dance to bring young people back to the church.

On Sept. 30 he held his second annual gospel showcase at the Triad Dream Center called “Man Up” to highlight non- traditional hip hop gospel performers.

“God revealed to me the dream to do a showcase for the city,” Gordon said.  “I started getting the visions, and when we had it last year it was a success.  This year we had gospel rappers, mime dancers, singing, spoken word and the youth dancing.  It was a good turnout and I think it was successful.”

Gordon started D Unity while working in the school system and has done so for the past 12 years.  He has since branched out and started D Unity X for the kids outside of the school system so they may enjoy the program as well.  It is built for youth ages 5-17.
“I wanted to call it D Unity X where the X means extra because it’s not just about dance. I want to incorportate mentoring, physical fitness, tutoring and anything else that can help the youth ages 5-17,” he said.

“When people see the word hip-hop, their minds go to a negative place,” he went on to say.  “Hip-hop is a culture and a lifestyle.  I think God was leading me in a different direction away from the traditional gospel music and I started listening to gospel rap.  It spoke to me because I could relate to their stories.”

He says he felt that he could still praise the Lord and be himself by expressing himself through hip-hop gospel.  He says he was told that gospel rap is the “devil” by some, but feels that is not the case.

“Some people think that any gospel music with a beat is wrong,” he said.  “They think church music must be with an organ and a choir.  That’s not true, and I think our problem is that we put God in a box by saying he will only hear you if you sing.”

He feels as though God has led him to gospel hip-hop as a way to reach the kids.  He says he knows there are other young people who think like he did when he was younger, so this is a way for him to reach kids without hammering them over the head with traditional gospel.

“With my program, kids are uplifting themselves, reciting songs, kids believing in themselves and uplifting one another,” said Gordon.  “The Word is still the same because people now don’t want to listen; they just want to hear.”

“If you listen to some of these artists and what they are saying, it’s still the same concept, just told differently,” he continued.  “But the truth is the truth and as long as lives are changing and souls are getting saved, then what’s the fuss?”

Gordon says he currently has 95 kids signed up in his D Unity program at Konnoak Elementary.  According to Gordon, many of the kids who come out are not dancers but just want to have good clean fun.

Over the years he has heard so much positive feedback from the kids and the parents about the program.  He says many of the parents tell him that their kids have changed for the better since being in the program.

Eventually Gordon would like to have his own facility to expand his reach.  He says that would be a way to incorporate the other things such as mentoring and sports into the program.  He feels more churches and ministries should meet the kids where they are instead of trying to force them into traditional ways to learn about God.

Gordon has a few events coming up with his organizations D Unity and D Unity X.  For more information about the organizations, email Gordon at dunityx@gmail.com or dgordon558@gmail.com.