Back to School Notable Quotable: Enrique Chi


By Paulette Beete
Photo of a man wearing sunglasses and a hat in the dessert

Photo of Enrique Chi by Adam Gundersheimer

"When kids feel like they have a voice and they feel empowered and encouraged to use it, then I think you get a better community member in general—someone willing to speak out when they see things that are not right, somebody willing to speak out for others' injustices and those kinds of things. Above everything else, I hope that that's what we're creating. And if we accidentally create amazing musicians, that's a great byproduct, but this is the heartbeat of it." — Enrique Chi

Enrique Chi is a founding member of Making Movies, a Latin Grammy-nominated band based in Kansas City, Missouri. Chi is also the founder of Art as Mentorship, a music education program for young people. We spoke with Chi about the need that led to starting the nonprofit and why the project is about so much more more than making a new generation of musicians.