Simone Jacobson
(202) 667-1192
simone@wblinc.org
www.wblinc.org
Words Beats & Life Honors Kanye West in Chicago, Afrika Bambaataa in D.C. and Convenes Hip-Hop Artists, Scholars, Organizations and Youth for Three-Day Teach-In
Washington, D.C., June 2, 2009—Two hip-hop icons, Afrika Bambaataa and Kanye West, will be honored for their commitment to social change when Words Beats & Life Inc. (WBL), hosts its second national teach-in, Remixing the Art of Social Change: a Hip-Hop Approach.
From June 12-14, 2009, hip-hop artists, scholars, organizations, and youth participating in hip-hop programs will come together in our nation’s capital for a three-day convening of the greatest thinkers and doers of the hip-hop generation. This year’s event also sees the launch of the Remix Awards, presented to individuals and organizations at the forefront of social transformation work through hip-hop.
On June 11, 2009, WBL’s Executive Director, Mazi Mutafa, will travel to Chicago to attend Kanye West’s Loop Dreams concert to honor West and his philanthropic initiative, the Dr. Donda West Foundation, with an inaugural Remix Award in the category of Hip-Hop Foundation of the Year. “Though a young foundation, it’s off to a great start,” commented Mutafa, who added, “The foundation is blazing a trail. They have drawn inspiration from merging Dr. West’s commitment to education and Mr. West’s commitment to quality music in order to support the work of hip-hop nonprofits and programs.”
Another inaugural Remix Award recipient in the Traditional Foundation of the Year category, ZeroDivide echoes the importance of hip-hop for social change: “By applying technological advances and providing knowledge and expertise on policy reform and advocacy, the hip-hop community is now an important participant and leader in mainstream social justice activism.” ZeroDivide’s Hip-Hop Initiative was created to bring the hip-hop social justice movement to a higher level of influence and expand its reach. The Initiative was intended to provide a new model of collaboration among the hip-hop community, nonprofit sector, music industry, media activists and academics. Other Remix Award recipients include Afrika Bambaataa; Hip-Hop Theatre Junction; DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities; and Joseph G. Schloss, Ph.D.
For anyone working with, studying, researching, or interested in the field of hip-hop culture, the teach-in is an opportunity to participate in the silent element of hip-hop: Knowledge. Day 1 of the teach-in (June 12) will take place at the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation at 1250 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20036 from 1-4 p.m. Space is limited for this event and requires pre-registration via e-mail to simone@wblinc.org
Friday, June 12th, ZeroDivide will present how its funding priorities in technology and hip-hop have impacted nonprofits throughout the state of California. Miami filmmaker Dan Perez and Brimstone 127 will present P.A.T.H.: A Hip-Hop Documentary. That evening audiences can enjoy the sneak preview of New Muslim Cool, a film by two-time Emmy Award-winner Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, which will air on PBS on June 23, 2009. There will be a film screening & discussion with the Senior Project Advisor and Ph.D. student researching 20th Century African American History and Religion at Columbia University, Zaheer Ali, and M-Team’s Hamza Perez, an emcee who is the documentary’s main subject.
From 8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. on June 13, 2009, Gloria Nauden, Executive Director of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, will welcome attendees to a day of over 50 presentations, panels, and workshops led by leaders of the hip-hop and nonprofit community, the Remix Awards Ceremony (including performances by Urban Artistry and youth poets), and more. At this second national teach-in, notable scholar/author Joseph G. Schloss, Ph.D. will guide discussions about the field of Hip-Hop Studies and where it might be headed. The afternoon Scholar Track session will address creating a hip-hop curriculum and its place in academic institutions. Roger Gastman, Editor-in-Chief of SWINDLE magazine, will moderate a panel about graffiti and public art, while Clyde Valentin (Executive Director, Hip-Hop Theatre Junction) and Nancy Petrisko (adjunct professor, Arts Management at American University) lead a workshop about budgeting and individual giving in a parallel session.
After a thought-provoking panel about how traditional organizations like the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Phillips Collection, and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery are adapting to embrace hip-hop (or not), guests will be inspired by the surreal and often disturbing, humor-infused new works by Aniekan Udofia, a Nigerian-American artist living and working in D.C. for the past 16 years. Co-curated by local artists, Fred Joiner and Adrian Loving, The Sickness 3 exhibit is the result of a one-month pilot Artist-in-Residence program co-sponsored by Words Beats & Life, Inc. and Dissident Display. Of his residency at Dissident, Udofia shared, “It’s really helped me to be able to walk away from the work. I come here [to Dissident Display], I paint, and then I can go home and not think about it for a while. When I’m at home, I just keep looking at it and it haunts me.”
For additional information about the teach-in, including a full itinerary, or to schedule interviews with any of the artists, scholars, or organizations represented, please contact Simone Jacobson.
Individuals and organizations can register and download the full itinerary at
ABOUT WORDS BEATS & LIFE, INC.
Founded in 2002, Words Beats & Life transforms individuals and whole communities through the elements of hip-hop culture. WBL currently serves 150 students at its five Urban Arts Academy sites in D.C. and up to 300 students during the summer. WBL works towards breaking the cycle of poverty and hopelessness using hip-hop in its two main program areas: The Urban Arts Academy and The Cipher. The Academy is a pre-vocational arts program for youth ages 5-23 in the District of Columbia. The Cipher is a growing local/national network of and resource for hip-hop based organizations. This year, The Cipher will expand to four geographies—St. Paul, Minnesota; Chicago, Illinois; San Francisco, CA; and Washington, D.C. —for its third national teach-in, Remixing the Art of Social Change: A Hip-Hop Approach.
OuttaBoundz
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