Hip-Hop and Social Justice

On Thursday, March 7, the Nassau Community College Spring 2013 Cultural Program will present “Hip-Hop and Social Justice” at 1 p.m. in the College Center Building.

The program will be presented by Dr. Michael Dyson, a cutting-edge historian and professor of sociology.

Dr. Michael Dyson educates about the relationship among hip-hop music, Black culture and American culture. After writing articles on artists such as NWA, Ice Cube and Tupac Shakur, he gained a reputation as an authority on rap music.

One of his early books, Between God and Gangsta Rap, strove to put gangsta rap in its cultural and social perspective and another, Hollar if You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur, delved into the life of Tupac Shakur

Dr. Dyson has also taught at such schools as the University of North Carolina, Columbia University and DePaul University about the importance of hip-hop and gangsta music. He is currently a professor at Georgetown University, and also can be heard on his hour-long radio show on NPR, The Michael Eric Dyson Show.

Born in Detroit, Dr. Dyson unknowingly lived a life of segregation until his entry into boarding school at the age of 16. It wasn’t long before he felt uncomfortable around his white classmates, who treated him poorly, often wrecking his dorm room and using racial slurs when referring to him.

By the time he graduated from high school, he was a teenage father-to-be and a gang member. By the time he was 21, he became a Baptist minister, and in 1992 he earned a bachelor’s degree.

Later, while working as a freelance journalist, he completed his master’s and doctoral degrees at Princeton University.

In addition to his articles and books about hip-hop, Dr. Dyson has written extensively on such topics as the lives of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as other aspects of race, religion and culture.

“Hip-Hop and Social Justice” is free, open to the public and accessible to the disabled. For more information about the program, please call 572-7148.