Hip-Hop Artists Share the Mic on March 17
Linqua Franqa, Sacramento Knoxx, RennieHarris, The ReMINDers, and Michael Jeffries
On Wednesday, March 17 at 6 pm online, national Hip-Hop artistsSacramento Knoxx, The ReMINDers, Linqua Franqa, and Rennie Harris, along with moderator Michael Jeffries (Wellesley College) will present,“Sounding Politics,” A Roundtable.
The presentation is part ofHip-Hop in Times of Pandemic and Protest, a month-long series of events hosted by theAmerican Music Research Centerand theLaboratory for Race & Popular Culture (RAP Lab),in collaboration with theDepartment of Theatre and Dance, theCenter for Native American and Indigenous Studies, and theLatin American Studies Center.The seriesexploresthe impacts, challenges, and possibilities of the current moment in Hip-Hopand is generously supported by a grant from theRoser Visiting Artists Program. Wednesday's event will focos on Hip-Hop and politics.
“Our existence in America since slavery has been based on politics and war,” said, founder of Puremovement American Street Dance Theater and whoseaward-winning “Rome and Jewels” remains the longest touring Hip-Hop dance theater work in American history. “I told a friend of mine; if history tells us anything it maps out in great detail how white people (those who refer to themselves as white)have destroyed, conquered, appropriated, and consumed every ethnicity and culture on the planet.” When sharing his views on how Hip-Hop influencessociety, he shared that"at its core it promotes individuality, choice and voice."
Sacramento Knoxx
ճNew Yorkercalls Harris “the most respected—and, to my knowledge, the most brilliant Hip-hop choreographer in America.”And theLondon Timesrefers to him as “The Basquiat of the US. He has literally embodied the history of hip-hop dance.”
“Hip-hop is merely an extensionof African American culture-of which is traditional-African at its base,” Harriscontinued andexpressed that one of the elements of Hip-Hop culture isknowledge.“What this means is knowledge of everything. By not having a clear directive it is saying we must be aware of every and all things. To seek knowledge out using every means necessary. If this is the case then this means we have crossed the Hip-hop threshold, this is beyond Hip-hop this is about Humanity.”
an Ojibwe and Chicano rapper, music producer, and interdisciplinary artist rooted in southwest Detroit who will also participate in the March 17thpresentation said, “Street gangs are political, as well as neighborhoods, and families. And these were the foundations of the culture of the people and the beautiful ghetto. Our survival as well as our excellence contributes to the legacy in hop-hop.”
The ReMINDers
Hip-Hop is about “the struggle against colonialism, knowledge, streets codes, deep narratives and reflections, celebration, peace, love, and unity.It's the contemporary life force of the culture right now,” Knoxx continued.It’s “the lifestyle we alllive in the hood.The rapping is for those elevating voices and sharing narratives inside that lifestyle.”
Big Samir ofdeclared that Hip-Hop “was a response to what was taking place in those environments, an artistic documentation of the situation and realities people were living in the Bronx and then across the world.”
The ReMINDers is a touring duo that also includes Queens-born, Aja Black.Together they blend soulful sounds and roots music with inspirational messages. Samir shared that some of the music that has influenced his work comes fromBob Marley, Public Enemy, Dead Prez, Black Star, and Fugees.
Also joining Wednesday's rountableis (Mariah Parker), a Hip-Hop artist in Athens, GA whose bringing together of her artistic career with a political one has. At the age of 26 she was sworn inas an Athens-Clarke County Commissionerwith her hand on a copy ofThe Autobiography of Malcolm X, instead of the Bible.The discussion will be moderated by Professor of Ethics and American Studiesand Dean of Academic Affairs at Wellesley College,whose workexplores racism, sexism, exploitation, and the ways marginalized people create meaning and build identities. Jeffries isthe author of severalbooks, including.