Amanda Carter is known by several very different names.
To her friends, she’s simply Amanda. To her students, she’s Ms. Carter. And, to her fans, she’s “330.”
Carter adopted that last moniker while a law student in Washington, D.C., where she began gaining recognition as a musician, writer and performer. She later moved back to Harrisburg to support her mom, who was going through a cancer diagnosis.
“At the time, I released a mixtape called ‘Sorry I’m Late’ because everyone was looking at me like I’m a lunatic, and maybe I am, but that’s what felt right to me,” she said. “I have my law degree, and I can use it whenever.”
As a substitute teacher at Camp Curtin Academy, she saw a need for an alternative after-school program to teach the fundamentals of songwriting to middle and high school students. With support from school administrators, HBG Summer League was born. In it, student artists, ages 10 to 13, displayed their talent for conceptualizing, songwriting and vocal performance on an eight-track mixtape.
“I was really proud of them because some of them had some behavioral issues, but they made a decision to keep it together so they could meet with us after school,” Carter said, beaming with pride. “I wanted those kids to have a tangible body of work that they could present to their friends and family. If you learn how to articulate yourself, you don’t have to resort to other outlets of expression that might get you in a lot of trouble.”
The group learned how to write original music, how to write authentically about their lives, how to perform and about studio etiquette.
“Studio etiquette is how to behave in a tiny space when you’re an excited middle school kid and there are a bunch of buttons,” she laughed. “Day one, they did an excellent job. Day two, I don’t know what happened. They completely unraveled.”
Other important factors in Carter’s program are respect and working as a team.
“Life is hard, and the world will tear you down. We’re supposed to be building each other up all the time,” she said, recounting the lessons she worked to pass on.
Carter also addressed the content and messaging of the music from the beginning of the program.
“There is so much negativity and age inappropriate stuff in music out here,” she said. “Let’s send a message that might empower our listeners—something that might spark a good idea or a positive idea to make them think. We don’t need to match what’s out there. Let’s put our own spin on it.”
Teriq (Lil’ Riq to his fans) was one of the students in HBG Summer League.
“He wants to be a rapper so badly,” said his mom, Jamala Glenn, who noted how the program keeps kids out of trouble. “It gives them a chance to be free in expressing how they feel in writing.”
Carter told me about one of these instances. She relayed the touching email she received following the terrorist attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
“‘Ms. Carter, I’m working on a verse for the people that got shot in Orlando,’“ she recited from memory. “This was a 13-year-old kid. It touched me that he felt what happened enough to be inspired to write about it.”
Teriq remembers it, as well.
“I did it for a lot of reasons,” he said. “Everyone’s dying. ISIS is killing people. Police officers are killing black males. There’s just a lot going on in the world.”
Carter is now casting her gaze to her next project. She hopes to turn a space on Allison Hill into “City Arts Space,” a safe place for middle and high schoolers to come and express themselves creatively through audio and visual arts.
“I want to encourage literacy,” she said. “Being able to read and absorb what you’ve read takes you to other worlds.”
She already has hold of the space. She just needs to transform it now.
“The property that we’re trying to convert is something that my grandmother gave to me,” she said, noting how important its preservation is to her.
Some media would lead you to believe that nothing positive happens in areas like Uptown Harrisburg and Allison Hill. Carter is aware of these prejudices and has addressed them head on.
“You can never say that the residents of Harrisburg don’t want to improve their neighborhood,” she said, explaining how she collected signatures to transition the property through grant funding. “There is a wave of millennials taking ownership of the city. We have these ideas, and we’re working together. It’s crossing color lines, and it’s crossing gender lines.”
To support HBG Summer League and to help make City Arts Space a reality, you can purchase HBG Summer League’s mixtape for $5 at www.hbgsummerleague.bandcamp.com.
Carter’s music can be found on any major music site or app, such as Spotify, by searching “330.”
Author: Ashleigh Pollart
