“Hip-hop has done more than any leader, politician, or anyone to improve race relations,” - Jay Z. This quote was made during his Oprah’s Master Class episode, and it really gets you to thinking. How has Hip Hop truly affected our culture? We hear about all of the negatives, but what about the positives? Do they balance out how our society has changed since its’ birth? Tonight, we’re going to discuss both sides of the scale. We’re gonna open the phone lines and chat room up for a debate to determine if Hip Hop has helped or hindered our society in numerous ways. We’ll also hear from Dr. James Braxton Peterson, Director of Africana Studies and Associate Professor of English at Lehigh University, and founder of Hip Hop Scholars, LLC, as he’ll contribute to this thought-provoking discussion. All of this, as we go “Live in the Vocal Booth”.
Special Guest: James Braxton Peterson, Ph.D.
James Braxton Peterson (Duke ’93, UPENN 2003) is the Director of Africana Studies and Associate Professor of English at Lehigh University. He has been Associate Professor of English at Bucknell University, a visiting lecturer and preceptor in African American Studies at Princeton University and the Media Coordinator for the Harvard University Hip Hop Archive.
He is also the founder of Hip Hop Scholars, LLC, an association of Hip Hop generational scholars dedicated to researching and developing the cultural and educational potential of Hip Hop, urban, and youth cultures. Peterson has written numerous scholarly articles on Hip Hop Culture, Multiculturalism, African American Literature, Culture, and Linguistics as well as Urban Studies. He has conducted interviews with Gil Scott Heron, Dr. Manning Marable, Sistah Souljah, Snoop Dogg, Dead Prez, DJ Jazzy Jeff and generally applies his journalistic skills and his ethnographic training toward innovative academic inquiry. Peterson has been featured on/in BET and Bet.com, The Michael Eric Dyson Show, Hot 97’s “Street Soldiers,” The Michael Baisden Show, and the award-winning PBS documentary, Beyond Beats and Rhymes. He has appeared on CNN, Fox News, CBS News, MSNBC, ABC News, ESPN, HLN, and various local television networks as an expert on popular culture, urban youth and politics.
Peterson blogs for the Huffington Post and he has published his scholarly work in Callaloo, Criticism, Black Arts Quarterly, XXL, and African American Review. Essays and other ‘public sphere’ writing have appeared on The Root.com, and SLAM online. Peterson is currently working on his first academic book, Major Figures: Critical Essays on Hip Hop Music (Mississippi University Press). He has also been featured and/or quoted in Vibe Magazine, Philadelphia Weekly, The Miami Herald, Southern Voices and The Wall Street Journal.
For more information, speech clips and media appearances please go to: http://www.youtube.com/DrJamesPeterson
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