"Spelman College and female hip-hop rap artist MC Lyte Present Hip-Hop Week"—a week of insightful guest lectures, lively panel discussions and engaging conversations—is being presented on the heels of the passing of activist C. Delores Tucker—one of the first Black women to candidly and publicly address the issue of negative, hypersexual imagery in hip-hop music on a national scale.

Hip Hop Week will deal with the impact of hip-hop culture in urban, suburban and rural communities of youth. Hip hop is used to sell everything from music to clothes to cars to food and liquor, and everything in between.

With its growing influence, how is hip-hop being internalized by its target audience? What are the social implications? "Spelman College and MC Lyte Present Hip Hop Week" will explore this question and many others in depth. 

Along with hip hop rap artist MC Lyte, there will also be Chuck D., Cheryl “Salt” James, Da Brat, Yoyo, actor/musician Malcolm Jamal Warner, actor Darryl “Chill” Mitchell, hip-hop historian Davey D., cultural critics Paul Porter and Joan Morgan, author/activist/playwright Pearl Cleage, filmmaker Byron Hurt, and Spelman College Professors Drs. William Jelani Cobb and Tarshia Stanley participating in a dynamic discourse addressing the tough questions about hip-hop’s impact on its most common consumers, the youth, as well as society as a whole.

The event will be Monday, October 31 through Friday, November 4, 2005 on the Spelman College Campus, 350 Spelman Lane, SW.

Hip-Hop Week Schedule of Activities

Monday, October 31

Panel Discussion: “Power to the People” Advocacy Through the Arts Dialogue

7 - 9 p.m. in Cosby Auditorium

Hosted by MC Lyte

Featuring Chuck D, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Darryl “Chill” Mitchell, Professor William Jelani Cobb

Co-sponsored by the Center for Leadership & Civic Engagement

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Tuesday, November 1

Panel Discussion: “The Impact of Hip Hop Culture"

7 - 8:30 p.m. in Cosby Auditorium

Featuring MC Lyte, Cheryl "Salt" James, Da Brat, Dr. Tarshia Stanley and Joan Morgan

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Wednesday, November 2

A Conversation with Cosby Endowed Professor Pearl Cleage and Hip Hop Legend MC Lyte

8 - 9:30 p.m. in Living and Learning Center II, Auditorium

Co-Sponsored by the Women’s Research and Resource Center

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Thursday, November 3

Convocation/Assembly

11:00 a.m. in Sisters Chapel

Featuring MC Lyte

Co-Sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Studies

“No One Drops Rhymes Like We Do” SistaFire Open-Mic

7:00 p.m. in Living and Learning Center II, Auditorium

Featuring MC Lyte

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Friday, November 4

V-103 Live Remote Day

Patio adjacent to Manley Student Center, Lower Level

Hip-Hop Film Screening: Masculinity in Hip Hop, a film by Byron Hurt

3 p.m.-5 p.m. in Living and Learning Center II, Auditorium

About Spelman College:  Founded in 1881, Spelman College is the only historically Black college in the nation to be included on the U.S. News and World Report's list of top 75 "Best Liberal Arts Colleges — Undergraduate," 2005. Located in Atlanta, Ga., this private, historically Black women's college boasts outstanding alumnae, including Children's Defense Fund Founder Marian Wright Edelman; U.S. Foreign Service Director Ruth Davis; authors Tina McElroy Ansa and Pearl Cleage and actress LaTanya Richardson. More than 83 percent of the full-time faculty members have Ph.D.s or other terminal degrees and the student-faculty ratio is 12:1. Annually, nearly one-third of Spelman students receive degrees in the sciences. The students number more than 2,186 and represent 43 states and 34 foreign countries. For more information regarding Spelman College, visit: www.spelman.edu .