When Drew Hines got a $1,000 check in August 2006 after being named a “Real Father, Real Man” on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, the money was supposed to help him invest in a business and support the future of his children.

Instead, the Chicago single father of three used most of the money to launch a non-profit organization to help at-risk children throughout Chicago.

Each semester during the school year, he goes into selected classrooms with lessons to help teach youths the behind the scenes business of the music and entertainment industries. And later this month, the organization called Pradagi, will partner with Malcolm X College to present the first in a series of music seminars called “Keep Success Pure.”

“So much of what our black youths use to pattern their lives, they get it from artists in the industry – their style, their talk. They only see what’s in front of the stage,” he said.

For years, he has watched as talented young people fall victim to their own ignorance when trying to break into the entertainment industry. Others fall short when they fail to complete school or become entrapped by some of the negatives of urban living, he said.

“I wanted to teach them about the business behind the stage and hopefully inspire more of them to do something positive,” Hines told BlackAmericaweb.com. “They need to know about the lawyers, the producers, arrangers and composers.”

In the spring, Hines offered the class to 15 students at Perspective Charter School. They visited places such as the popular George's Music Room to learn first hand about the sale of music. They also visited sound studios and learned about mixing music. 
 
In September, he will offer the class to 25 students at Bronzeville Alternative School.

Currently he funds the program himself and accepts donations on his Web site. In the future, he hopes to secure more public and private support to increase the impact the program has on city youths. 

If children have an opportunity to learn something extra at school through hands-on experiences, Hines said he hopes it will motivate them to do more in other classes.

“Studies show that 80 percent of the high school dropouts learn by doing. If we expose them to the business of entertainment, hopefully they will realize that it’s cool to be in class,” he said.

When Hines is not teaching or planning programs for Pradagi, he runs an entertainment marketing and promotions company called P.U.R.E. Underground, working mainly with new artists in the Chicago area.

Hines also has his hands full rearing his two boys and one girl ages 7, 10 and 11.

Hines went through a two-year battle to gain custody of children after his daughter was physically abused while in the care of her mother. She was hospitalized with a fractured vertebrae and bruises all over her body.

He was able to get her the physical therapy she needed and some counseling.

“My mother reared me as a single parent,” Hines said. Now he’s determined to rear his children and give them what they need to have a good life now and success in the future, he said.

John Jointer, who has worked since November with Pradagi, said Hines is just a motivated man.

“He is extremely driven – almost to a fault,” Jointer told BlackAmericaweb.com. “He is nonstop. He just wants to make a difference. As a parent, you can see through your children the needs of other children.”

Hines has found support for his program at Malcolm X College – a two-year institution in Chicago – and at Columbia College of Chicago, a four-year college.

“He came to us with a proposal for the workshop. We saw it as a way to help reach young people by using something they like to expose them to the business of music while teaching them some critical thinking skills,” said Roy Walker, assistant dean for continuing education at Malcolm X College.

The first seminar will be offered at 6 p.m. on Aug. 22 at the college for a fee ranging from $10 for groups to $30 for the general public.

“We offer mainly allied health courses, but we are always looking for creative programs,” Walker told BlackAmericaweb.com. “We just want to help steer students on a path to success.”