(FOUND 2023) The Degrassi Kids Rap On Rights

Sorry for the late reply. 

Basically, in April this year, I read about this "Degrassi Kids Rap On Rights" video in the "Degrassi Generations: The Official 411" book by Kathryn Ellis. This book is basically a history of the entire franchise from Kids of Degrassi Street to Degrassi: The Next Generation, with interviews from cast members and hundreds of rare photos. On page 141, it mentioned a "Degrassi Kids Rap On Rights" video being made as a collab between the Degrassi cast, and UNICEF. I tried to Google it, maybe thinking it was just one of those obscure pieces of Degrassi history that was hidden in the deep corners of the web, or maybe one of the cast members posted on social media as a throwback, but there was jack anything about its existence. Not long after, I found a contemporary fan club newsletter which has an article describing what it is about.

I found a copy of the video on WorldCat located in Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, but I'm Australian and could never get to Canada, so at least in terms of geographic differences, that is a dud, but I could confirm that the Rap On Rights still exists at all. So I made a page on the Lost Media Wiki, hoping to draw attention to it. I even came across two other Degrassi fans that too were looking for this utterly nonexistent media. I'm active on several Degrassi groups on Facebook, one of which actually featured several cast members from Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High, and so in late May I messaged the "famous" ones: Amanda Stepto, who played Spike, Stacie Mistysyn who played Caitlin, and Pat Mastroianni who played Joey (he has a business named "Degrassi Tour" which sets up public appearances of Degrassi cast members at conventions and sells merch, so I messaged that). Amanda Stepto didn't appear to see my message (there's no "seen" or literally any other indication), Mastroianni saw my message but didn't respond, but Stacie responded. 

She said that she had a copy of it on DVD and had no way to convert it at the moment but stated that she would find some way to post it in the near future. So I thanked her for her response and told her about how I wasn't the only one looking for it and that it was a total mystery to us, and she responded back saying that it was weird that it wasn't out there and that she'd see what she could find, so I thanked her. 

Then after that, I discovered (via VPN, geoblocked) a documentary on the "Degrassi Tour" channel that was made in 2005 of the franchise and there was an eight second clip of the Rap On Rights video. I don't have the link to the actual documentary RN but I cut that scene and uploaded it by itself to my channel. What you don't hear in the video is the guy who played Snake (who hosted this documentary) asking "Remember the UNICEF rap video?" and I stupidly cut that out. I have the documentary downloaded and if I have to I'll put it on Google Drive or something with a time stamp.

This is all I've got so far, it's been a one man search because I don't know much people that are 80s Degrassi fans outside of the Degrassi community.

Late reply, sorry!

I did a little bit of research and found what looks to be a teacher workbook called "In Our Own Backyard". It looks like a workbook that was available for teachers to order in the summer of 1995. It states that the videos listed in the workbooks were available for rent through UNICEF offices. It has a bunch of people who worked on the project as a whole and seems to lead in a bigger rabbit hole of other lost media, along with the Degrassi tape. I looked through all of the pages available and it says that the Degrassi rap video also apparently has a French version as well. Here is the link for the PDF I found. It could be worth a try to contact the people involved in making "In Our Own Backyard" and see if they have information but its amazing that Stacie is willing to work with you and figure out a way to rip the video. At least there's a little lead way now!

Has anything else been found or has Stacie responded back to you with anything?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm68yc3QUjQ

Bumping this thread to let you guys know we've obtained a direct and 60fps VHS capture of the video.