The Barbershop School Tour-411 Initiative For Change show visited students at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School recently to bring home key messages on human rights, racism discrimination, sexism, tolerance, and youth violence.

The 411 Initiative For Change is a Canadian based non-profit organization that provides programming to schools by merging art, culture, heritage, and social development to empower and inspire young people. In similar fashion The Barbershop Show is also a very dynamic musical and interactive educational program designed for students which focuses on human rights.

“The Barbershop Show blurs the lines between concert and hip-hop music by using comedy, spoken word, music and skits to create an innovative performance that represents everyday life. Our students were in awe and totally in tune with the performance,” states Bishop Alexander, School Principal Sherry Bortolotti who took in the performance along with her students.

Drawing from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Barbershop Show examines the lives of youth in Canada as well as youths around the world that lack human rights or are affected by human rights abuse while the 411 Initiative for Change seeks to empower marginalized groups such as young women and members of ethnocultural communities.