Nisha Purushotham '92 likens traditional Afro-Caribbean drumming to community building. "The full experience requires that everyone falls into a common pulse and listens to what others are expressing," she said. But solos are also important and "call for individuals."

Two years ago Purushotham, a self-proclaimed community organizer, founded the nonprofit Rhythm & Roots in Providence, R.I., to raise issues of racial and economic injustice--from educational inequalities and lack of living-wage jobs to racial profiling--through drumming. She teaches traditional beats, composition and cultural history to predominantly working-class and minority children and teens in free weekly classes.

For Purushotham drumming is a creative expression that can empower youths to recognize and analyze critically systems of oppression and ultimately alter social consciousness. Through discussion, reflection and original compositions--often influenced by rap and hip-hop--her students connect injustices they witness with their potential to influence change.

"I don't want to direct what they do or how they affect political change later in life," said Purushotham. "I want to lay the foundation for them to do it."