Mar Vista Family Center Honors Local DJ

More than 600 people gathered at the Mar Vista Family Center Sunday to honor the memory of Tarek “DJ Dusk” Captan, a former DJ celebrity. The gathering marked the 5th Annual Sights and Sounds of DJ Dusk Art and Music Festival.

Captan—who loved art, music and giving back to his community—was a Mar Vista Family Center employee. He was just 31-years-old when he was killed in 2006 by a drunk driver.

 “He was a charismatic, loving young guy…whose legacy of music and social commitment made him a role model to the teens and their parents in this community. His loss devastated us,” said the center's CEO Lucia Diaz.

Sunday's event ran from 3 p.m. to dusk. Attendees ate carnitas, vegan tacos with mole sauce, and sipped on refreshing drinks. The event also featured a silent auction with artwork from local artists John Hag, B+ (Brian Cross) Jim Mahfood, Mike Magoski and Augustine Kofi.

The afternoon performaces kicked off with the driving beat of an Aztec drum and traditionally-clad dancers performing an Aztec purification ceremony. The Folklorico Kids dancing troupe then mesmerized the crowd with their colorful costumes and movements. Jeremy Sole from Radio Station KCRW hosted the event with a group of DJs including Eric Coleman, Jedi, Al Jackson and Alter.

As a tribute to "DJ Dusk", the music of the day ranged from Reggae to Hip Hop to Funk, Soul and Latin selections.

Gerardo Rodriguez, 24, was just 8-years-old when he met Captan at the center.  "He was my first mentor in the By Youth, For Youth group," Rodriguez said. "He knew everything and he spoke about college and how fun it was. I never thought I would go to college."

Today, Rodriguez  attends California State University, Dominguez Hills and will graduate next month with a teaching degree. "I became a role model in the inner city because of Tarek," he said. "I plan to teach English as a second language to kids."

Blanca Diaz, 32, also remembers Captan well, back when he was a tutor and she was a young high school student at the center. To her, he was her mentor: "I think the experiences we had separately and together helped us to work with these kids," she said. "He made me work harder and had a goal engraved in my head. He said, 'I don't care what or where, but you go to college.'"  Diaz now works as the head of the preschool center at  the Mar Vista Family Center and has mentored many students that have since gone on to college.

In fact, Captan’s efforts helped guide more than 85 percent of the center’s teenage By Youth, For Youth members to colleges throughout the country. Many have returned to the local community as engineers, social workers, business owners and educators.

However, Diaz notes that programs such as By Youth, For Youth are now in jeopardy because they are 100 percent publicly funded and donations are down.

Sunday’s fundraiser brought in more than $4800, with $1900 from food alone. Those funds will help cotinue to fund the center's youth programs.

Captan was often quoted as saying, "None of us are as strong as all of us.” It is that spirit that Diaz says the Mar Vista Family Center is determined to encourage in their youth and the community.

On May 11, the Mar Vista Family Center will be hosting another silent auction and dinner at Casa Sanchez on Centinela Avenue. Call Casa Sanchez at (310) 397-9999 for more information. In addition, Captan’s family has set up a Memorial Fund InDuskWeTrust, which will benefit non-profit organizations as provide scholarship funds.