As a professional percussionist, Josh Robinson uses music as medicine.
“I grew up with a lot of problems and found music and art as a way to heal others,” he explained.
I first met Robinson at a student-led event, similar to one recently held at New Foundations Charter School, where students disconnected from social media for an hour to simply live in the moment.
“People need invitations to connect and step away from screens or other distractions,” Robinson said.
It just so happens that music does more than uplift people. As a young child, Robinson found drums a safe place while dealing with his father’s drug addiction.
“I learned how to fend for myself by smashing pots, pans and buckets,” he said.
Robinson now uses personalized drumsticks and buckets to help children and adults cope with trauma and grief.
“I work with a lot of underserved communities. I work with grieving children across the country, probably about 3,000 to 4,000 a year in about 15 states,” he said.
Robinson’s goal is to create safe spaces where people can connect and see themselves in each other, and “give them a way to process some of the struggles and the pain that they’ve been through,” Robinson said . “But also to find celebration and joy in life.”
Robinson also works with medical students. He teaches a class called “Language of Music” that tries to get these students out of their cluttered heads and more in touch with their feelings.
Wakisha Bailey
