"You Believe in Me:" Celebrating 50 years of hip-hop in education event – Nov. 2
The East Carolina University College of Education is inviting three renowned hip-hop and hip-hop education scholars and artists to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the genre. The “You Believe in Me” event will take place on November 2 at 4 p.m. in the Black Box Theater of the Main Campus Student Center.
Dr. Dawn N. Hicks Tafari, associate professor of education at Winston-Salem State University; Dr. Kafi Kumasi, professor in the School of Information Sciences at Wayne State University; and Akua Naru, a hip-hop artist, producer, activist and scholar, will share how hip-hop has impacted society and education in particular.
The COE Diversity Committee and Office of Community Engagement and Wellness decided on the name “You Believe in Me” as a reference to the song “Apparently,” by J. Cole, a renowned North Carolina hip-hop artist, producer and philanthropist.
“In ‘Apparently,’ Cole expresses emotions of self-doubt but also of gratitude,” the committee said. “He had moved away to New York, became famous, and then returned home to Fayetteville. In all of that, he expresses uncertainly and even melancholy, especially when he apologizes to his mother for not being there for her in a difficult time. But the song is also about gratitude for her and people who have been there for him. The song is an opportunity for him to deal with a difficult time in a positive way.”
Panelist Bios:
Dr. Dawn N. Hicks Tafari is Associate Professor of Education at Winston-Salem State University. Dr. Tafari is a scholar activist and Hip-Hop Feminist whose research focus includes Black male students and teachers, Hip-Hop culture’s influence on identity development, culturally relevant teaching, and critical race theory. She earned a Ph.D. in Educational Studies with a Specialization in Cultural Studies from The University of North Carolina Greensboro. She has served as an elementary school teacher in Brooklyn, New York and in Baltimore, Maryland; and as a curriculum facilitator in High Point, North Carolina. Dr. Tafari currently serves as an educational consultant for Guilford County Schools and as the Coordinator for the Elementary Education program in the Department of Education at Winston-Salem State University. Dr. Tafari is also co-founder of the Greensboro Kwanzaa Collective, a grassroots organization that organizes Greensboro’s citywide 7-day Kwanzaa celebration. Her book, The Journey of Kamau Miller: HipHop Composite Counterstories for Black Men Teachers, is coming out in October 2023.
Kafi Kumasi, Ph.D. (she/her) is a Professor in the School of Information Sciences (SIS) at Wayne State University. She is a leader in research on critical race theory and equity in education. Her scholarship engages critical theoretical explorations of race, power, and privilege as means to help prepare future and practicing library and information science (LIS) professionals to meet the needs of all learners. Dr. Kumasi has published numerous articles on the intersections between hip-hop and youth information behaviors culminating with her InFLO-mation model which is framed by hip-hop principles. She was co-Guest Editor with Dr. Andre Brock (Georgia Tech) for the special issue, “The Global Drumbeat: Permeations of Hip Hop Across Diverse Information Worlds” of The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion (IJIDI), volume 6, issue 1/2, 2022. Kumasi’s work has been recognized by the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID) with an Exemplary Diversity Scholar Citation. She helped create the Future Librarians for Inclusivity and Diversity (FLID) student organization in SIS and has served as faculty advisor for since its inception. Kumasi received her PhD from Indiana University, Bloomington.
Akua Naru is a Hip Hop artist, producer, activist, and scholar, who theorizes the experiences of Black women through rhyme along a sonic spectrum from jazz to soul. She has released four albums—“…the journey aflame (2011)”, “Live & Aflame Sessions (2012)”, “The Miner’s Canary (2015)”, and “The Blackest Joy (2018)”—three on the label she co-founded, The Urban Era. Akua has performed hundreds of shows in more than fifty countries across five continents. She has been invited to lecture at Harvard University, University of Oxford, Cornell University, Princeton University, Fordham University, University of Cologne (Germany), Ahfad University for Women (Sudan), and Pivot Point College (China). At Harvard, Akua Naru was Nasir Jones Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research (2018-19). At Brown, she was Practitioner Fellow in Arts and Expressive Culture (2019-2020) and Race and Media Fellow, Artist and Expressive Culture (2019-2020).