When Guyanese Kris Ally decided to organise the inaugural all-ages NYE 2K12 Show & Dance, to be held in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada tonight, he had the events of his past which led to a criminal conviction firmly in mind.
With the New Year’s Eve event, Ally hopes to bring Guyanese migrants to Canada together with the wider West Indian community at a celebration of West Indian culture, as a way of helping the younger immigrants in particular to avoid the path he once tread.
“If it had been around when I was a youth,” Ally, 33, is quoted as saying in a report by The Waterloo Region Record about his attempt to be a role model for West Indian youth.
Ally, the report noted, was one of four teenage males who on Christmas Eve in 1996 attacked a pizza shop owner and his delivery driver, in a botched and bloody robbery attempt. He was later locked up in federal prison for four years, during which time he completed high school by correspondence. Upon his release, Ally enrolled in the Toronto School of Business and he has since become a hip-hop/reggae recording artist, business owner and a father.
The criminal conviction and memories of that night will never fade from Ally’s life, but he is determined to use those experiences to teach young people that there are alternatives to violence and crime. “I want them to know, what I’ve become,” he says.
According to the report, Ally spent 10 years in Toronto developing his multimedia and recording business, SBG Studios and SoundBoy Records as well as a clothing line and last year moved the business to Kitchener.
Having been away from the region for 15 years, Ally was disheartened to see nothing much had changed to engage youth. The problem, he said, is that culturally Guyanese families do not get involved in the wider community, leaving their young people fruitlessly searching for a place to belong. He notes that the youth visiting his music studio are usually spouting ideas of pulling robberies or joining gangs. “I want to give them a spanking,” he said, although he is encouraging their creative side and is trying to “showcase their talent” as recording artists.
Statistics Canada reported in 2006 that there were nearly 2,000 Guyanese in the region, but Ally believes the numbers are closer to 3,000, plus immigrants from Trinidad and Jamaica.
Ally, according to the report, hopes to eventually build a cultural centre but for now is starting with the Show & Dance, which will be open to all cultures and will feature music, food and door prizes, presented by the Waterloo Region Guyanese Association, another of his initiatives.
For Ally, the report added, violence of the crime and his time behind bars will always be a part of him and he is not shy speaking about his experiences, particularly the subsequent death of co-accused Ryan Ecker. Ecker, 24, who had served five of an eight-year sentence as the ringleader in the attack on the pizza shop owner, was found dead in a Kitchener motel room, a year after he was released from prison. Foul play was ruled out. Ally said it was suicide.
“When he died, it had an impact on me,” Ally is quoted as saying. “It took me to a deep spot. If I could save just one kid, then there won’t be another Ryan.”
Meanwhile, Ally’s girlfriend Sherina Naraine, host of the New Year’s Eve event, said she is inspired by what he has done with his life and as an elementary school teacher, she believes positive role models can make a difference in the life of a child.
“I see the kids in the school system, some are reaching some are not,” she said. “If they don’t have anyone to turn to, they turn to crime, or gangs. Gangs give them support. They have to belong to something.”
Given his well-publicized criminal history, the report said Ally is aware he could face potential backlash and he is ready.
“People are surprised that I’m putting myself out there,” he said. “I made a mistake. I was a youth. I think everything happens for a reason. You take your life experiences and turn it into a positive.”
