Brian ‘Dyalekt’ Kushner moved from St. Croix to New York to study acting and law. He also liked to rap. After witnessing civil rights injustices at the law firm he worked for, he dropped both the job and the law classes, pursuing the arts instead. Performances at the Nuyorican led him to Hip Hop Theater, writing plays that have been performed on stages across the world. He didn’t sleep on the rapping either, releasing music and touring internationally. His first album/one man play Square Peg Syndrome helped him get named to the Public Theater’s Emerging Writer’s Group. 

When Dyalekt was invited to present at a workshop for New York SCORES, a soccer and poetry program in Harlem and the Bronx, his perspective on performance changed. Students are much better audience members than bar patrons, and Dyalekt found he had a natural affinity for facilitation. Hip Hopping with students like he did with MCs in a cypher led to better engagement, grades, and overall attitude toward school than the usual class.

Dyalekt designed curricula that lined up the elements of Hip Hop with learning styles. Through Hip Hop, or rather, by Hip Hopping, students could assess their tendencies and use them to their benefit. Furthermore, the community aspects of Hip Hop show students how to be responsible citizens, peer mentors, and advocates for justice. Dyalekt brought this curriculum, along with his album/play back home to St. Croix, rocking with 17 orgs and over 400 students. They produced 2 books of poetry, an album, and a documentary. 

He’s rocked (performed/taught/keynoted) everywhere from conferences like AFCPE and Prosperity Now, to stages like Bowery Ballroom and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, to classrooms at Yale, keynotes at Harvard, & the local barbershop. His latest jam is the Museum of Dead Words, an album/play/research presentation about words that turn conversations into fights, that was most recently presented to the Society for Linguistic Anthropology.

At Pockets Change he uses hip-hop pedagogy to demystify personal finance and help students take control of their relationship with money. He  co-hosts the Get Shameless podcast, which discusses personal finance and racial economic inclusion, and was the poetry writer for NYC DOE’s WORD UP program, where he converted phonics lessons into rhymes.