The Center for the
Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago will host
what organizers have billed the first national conference on the topic of “Feminism
and Hip-Hop,” in April.
The conference aims to provide
a forum to discuss and analyze the relevance of feminist agendas to the Hip-Hop
generation.
Kim Osorio of The Source, model Melyssa Ford, activist Rosa Clemente, Harvard’s
Marcyliena Morgan, Akiba Solomon and others are confirmed panelists.
“While a substantial literature has emerged detailing the history and
the current cultural domination of hip hop, there has also developed substantial
writing and some research warning of the possible negative impact of hip hop
culture on young African Americans, stemming from its focus and promotion of
sex, drugs, crime, misogyny, consumerism and nihilism,” CSRPC said in
a statement. “This conference will provide the needed space for debate
and discussion about the impact of hip hop culture on the sexual, gender and
racial understandings of young people around the world.”
The conference takes place
April 7th-9th and is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is required
online at http://csrpc.uchicago.edu.
The deadline for registration is March 18, 2005.
Below is a schedule of events during the conference.
Thursday Evening
Film Screenings and Discussion with Directors
Hip Hop Gurlz (Director: Tamika Guishard); Booty Nation (Director: Alison Duke);
Nobody Knows My Name (Director: Rachel Raimist)
Friday Panels and
Plenaries
“Graduate Student Work on Hip Hop”
“Hip Hop Archive” (Featuring Marcyliena Morgan, the archive founding
director)
Progressive Women’s Caucus
“From Blues to Hip Hop: Rethinking Black Women’s Sexuality”
(Featuring Gwendolyn Pough, Hazel Carby, and Farah Jasmine Griffin)
“Feminism and Hip Hop” (Featuring Joan Morgan, Tricia Rose, and
Beverly Guy-Sheftall)
Saturday Panels
“Media Representations of Women in Hip Hop”
“Sexuality and Agency in Hip Hop”
“Masculinity, Heterosexism, and Hip Hop”
“Feminism, Politics and Hip Hop on the Ground”
Saturday
Evening Performances
Jessica Care Moore
Rockafella
Other Artists