Funk Not Fight 2025: A Day to Remember at the Ebony J Media Center

Author: Jeremy Simms

Ebony J Media with Bootsy and Patti Collins

At this year’s Funk Not Fight event hosted at the Ebony J Media Center, a lot went down. It was a busy time for the other students and me. We were moving fast—running from building to building, carrying heavy equipment, trying to get everything set up in time for our scheduled introduction. Right after that, we jumped straight into our student-led group discussion.

And that’s what touched us the most: we led the program, we hosted the event, and we DJ’d the entire experience. We showed up and SHOWED OUT. This wasn’t just another event—it was ours from start to finish.

During the discussion, we got into the differences between how the older generation grew up compared to us. We talked with the audience about how those differences still affect us today. One of the biggest things we hit on was how the internet and social media play a huge role in raising the younger generation—especially in households where parents are more easygoing and don’t have as much influence on day-to-day decisions.

We also talked about how older generations dealt with stricter parenting, especially in the Black community. Back then, it was more of a “no tolerance” mindset. They had to navigate a world that was harsher and more dangerous in a lot of ways. But overall, we all agreed that even though we’re coming up in different times, we face a lot of the same struggles—just in different forms. And the systems that were built to keep our people down? They’re still here, and it’s on us to be the ones to make a change in our communities.

Like I mentioned during the discussion, “We gotta know what’s affecting us, first and foremost, but all of our community has to wake up to make change.”

After the discussion, we prayed and sat down to eat. A HUGE shoutout to Ijahna Ervin for holding it down with the full taco bar and Bonita Y. Carlisle for blessing us with her delicious pies. It was real love here in the community.

Then came the highlight of the event—Bootsy Collins made a surprise guest appearance. He walked in, sat down, and watched all of our performances, which featured a spoken word piece from Ms. Margarita and a music set from our special artist, Noah, who wrote and performed his award-winning song along with a few others.

But what truly made this event historic? Bootsy Collins officially named the Ebony J Media Learning Center his very first “Safe Place” in Cincinnati.

He donated a signed purple guitar and a drum set. King Records (Cincinnati) donated an additional drum set. TASK came through with brand-new headphones. The K. Riley Family Foundation committed to sponsoring a scholarship for a youth to attend our program. Over 50 community members showed up to support. The Lemonade Crew girls even visited the event and toured the center—adding more light and love to the day. And special thanks to BROTHAS INC. and the Bootsy Collins Foundation for their generous donations!

After the performances, we took pictures with Bootsy and Peppermint Patti, who also did their walk-in intro with DJ Chris spinning Bootsy’s theme song. Then Mr. Ron got to give Bootsy, Patti and the Lemonade Crew a tour of the media center, which was fun to say the least.

Huge thanks to Elementz Cincinnati for always believing in our youth and for bringing out incredible talent. And I can’t forget Kimberly Brooks-Bonds and Co-Founder Tank Ronald for always making the vision come alive and handling the behind-the-scenes production and logistics. None of this would be possible without them.

This event was overwhelming—in the best way. We officially launched our Funk Not Fight partnership with the LEGENDARY William “Bootsy” Collins, and our mission is rooted in one goal: calm the violence through music, arts, and media!