Louisville kids find hope, mentorship through drumming amid rise in youth gun violence

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Gun violence is taking the lives of Louisville's children, and some are turning to music for a lifeline.

The sounds of raindrops and music fill Russell Lee Park in the city's west end Wednesday afternoon.

For 30 years, Ed White ran the River City Drum Corps. Thousands of children passed through his program, learning the art of discipline.

"If your child comes to me then that child is mine," White said.

Kameron Graham, director of Smoketown Thunder Drumline, was one of those kids.

"Drumming is something you feel inside your body," Kameron Graham said. "My childhood completely changed when I became a member of his drum corps."

White added, "I knew Kameron had it, so my job was to get it out of him."

Although White retired in 2017, Kameron Graham wanted to recreate the impact White made on his childhood this year. Together, they formed the Smoketown Thunder Drumline.

"We are trying to get kids active involved and off the streets," Kameron Graham said.

White reflected on how the community has changed.

"It was the 'we' society. Now it’s me, myself and I. That’s why we have the issues that we have," he said.

"There’s really nothing for them to go but to go to the streets and the streets will find something for them to do," White said.

The problem has grown worse over the last 15 years. According to Louisville Metro Police's gun violence dashboard, in 2010, 18 children 17 years old or younger were shot. Last year, that number jumped to 74.

"Out of those 74 kids I can say off the top of my head I knew about 20 of them," Kameron Graham said.

Kameron Graham said picking up drumsticks instead of weapons can change lives.

"Kids have a mentor to listen by instead of their parents trying to say do this do violence," Kamden Graham, Kameron Graham's son, said.

Children said the program teaches them to march to their own beat.

"It’s a life coach in a sense," Nyla Adonis, member of the drumline, said.

"They think violence is the answer all the time, but drumming just kills that," Kamden Graham said.

Smoketown Thunder hopes to teach children that by carrying the rhythm, they can carry their future, too.

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