Deep Week | Anti-Bully Rally
Photo credit: @djdemp via Instagram
Man Up Against Bullying (MUAB) hosted their 4th annual anti-bullying rally at The Moon nightclub on Saturday, Jan. 13 during the 21st Demp Week.
Demp Week serves as a 7-day birthday celebration of DJ Demp, who is a music personality and disc jockey (DJ) in Tallahassee. This year’s festivities began Monday, Jan. 8 and ended Sunday, Jan. 14.
With events lined up for the week, MUAB partnered up with DJ Demp to raise awareness about anti-bullying. "It's all about building children's self-esteem and giving them hope and shine light when some of them may not know where they want to go in life,” DJ Demp said. “Adults can help children understand that there is a way of life and we're just here to prevent that."
With over 100 people in attendance, the event featured a “Sport your Style” fashion show and performances by Swag Divas, Fantashique and Excellent Dance Studio, along with giveaways to attendees.
Tiffany Love, founder and CEO of MUAB, partnered with DJ Demp in 2011 to start anti-bully rallies in Tallahassee during Demp Week. Love shared her experiences with being bullied and how MUAB can help eliminate bullying.
“In school girls would bully me and out of pain and frustration sometimes I would bully back. I eventually said ‘enough is enough,’” Love said.
Love’s main goal through MUAB is to teach youth and their parents about bullying and techniques on how to control a situation when dealing with a bully.
The rally was open to the community, highlighting self-love, expressing individuality, as well as a confidence and courage builder.
Ahmad Rashad, who was the host and production manager, said the goal of MUAB is to ensure their efforts are substantial to individuals that have been bullied.
“I prefer rallies like the ones we do with Demp because it’s proactive,” Rashad said. “Our goal is to make sure that we know that something we’ve done or said has actually saved a life. We try to give someone the strength to not think that committing suicide is the only option.”
Rashad also said that suicide is a dead-end decision for a temporary circumstance of bullying.
"Never make a long-term decision based on short term circumstances. There are always hardships in life, but making a decision like taking your own life is a dead-end decision, there's no coming back," Rashad added.
In an Instagram post from Dec. 14, 2017 promoting the rally for “DempWeek21,” DJ Demp said the rally is the most important event during his week-long birthday celebration.
“This year (2017) we’ve lost multiple lives due to the effects of bullying. I’m a big advocate of the anti-bully platform and this event is one of the most important ones of Demp Week,” DJ Demp expressed on the Instagram post.