WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., co-founder, president and CEO of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, will speak Nov. 11 at Purdue University.

His talk, sponsored by Purdue’s Black Cultural Center, begins at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.

The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network is a non-profit, non-partisan coalition of hip-hop artists, entertainment leaders, education advocates, civil rights proponents and youth leaders. Its mission is to harness the cultural relevance of hip-hop music to advocate education and other societal concerns related to the empowerment of youth.

Chavis, a civil rights leader and a longtime advocate of equal opportunity, also is the president of Education Online Services Corp., a company committed to increasing online higher education among Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other academic institutions of higher learning worldwide.

A native of Oxford, N.C., Chavis started his career in 1963 as a statewide youth coordinator in North Carolina for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Later he became director and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and executive director and CEO of the 1.7 million-member United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice. He also was executive director and CEO of the National African American Leadership Summit. In addition, he was the national director and organizer of the Million Man March in 1995.

Chavis has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from University of North Carolina, a master’s in divinity from Duke University and a doctorate in ministry from Howard University. He has authored numerous books and publications.

“We are really excited to have someone of Dr. Chavis’ caliber visit Purdue,” said Renee Thomas, director of the Black Cultural Center. “We feel he ties in very well to the theme of our fall cultural arts series programs, which is Hip-Hop: A Social and Political Message of Black Identity.”

Thomas said the cultural arts series this semester was an opportunity to celebrate the contribution of hip-hop to American culture.

“Since the late 1970s, hip-hop has steadily gained intellectual credibility,” she said. “A unique feature of hip-hop is its ability to transcend cultural, ethnic, racial, generational and geographic boundaries. It bridges the divide between the academy and the real world and inspires a growing body of scholarly discourse.”

Established in 1969, the Black Cultural Center helps Purdue students better understand African-American heritage and enhances cultural diversity on campus. The center is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue University Black Cultural Center announced its Cultural Arts Series programs for the Fall 2009 semester.

Rapper and educator, Will Power, will give a lecture and performance on September 29th as part of the Black Cultural Center's Fall 2009 Cultural Arts Series.

The series theme, Hip-Hop: A Social and Political Message of Black Identity, includes the Sept. 10 Rap Session – Community Dialogue on Race and Hip Hop,” followed on Sept. 29 by a lecture and performance by educator and rapper Will Power. During Homecoming weekend, the Black Cultural Center will celebrate its 40th anniversary, and on Nov. 11 the founder of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network will speak.

“Since the late 1970s, hip-hop culture has steadily gained intellectual creditability,” BCC director Renee A. Thomas said. “A unique feature of hip-hop is its ability to translate across cultural, ethnic, racial, generational and geographic boundaries. Hip-hop helps bridge the divide between the academy and the real world and inspires a growing body of scholarly discourse. The series will provide an opportunity to celebrate hip-hop contributions to American culture.”

All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Upcoming events include:

• Aug. 27 – The Black Cultural Center’s Annual Boilerfest New Student Orientation will be from 4-6 p.m. in the center’s parking lot, 1100 Third St. Boilerfest is a new student orientation festival that allows campus leaders and student organization members to gather in an informal setting. The event features a hip-hop DJ, B-Boy dancers and live entertainment by the BCC performing arts ensembles in a block party atmosphere.
• Sept. 10 – “Rap Session – Community Dialogue on Race and Hip Hop” will begin at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. Leading hip-hop intellectuals, including Jabari Asim, Bakari Kitwana, Joan Morgan and others, will participate in an interactive town hall style meeting. Participants will explore how today’s popular culture, the impact of the generation gap and emerging trends in youth activism have all influenced our perceptions of race.
• Sept. 19 – “Friends and Family Day – I AM HIP HOP!” will follow the Purdue football game against Northern Illinois. Participants will get an inside look at hip-hop culture. Afternoon activities will include break-dance instruction, children’s hip-hop story-hour activities and a film screening.
• Sept. 29 – Will Power, a pioneer in the genre of hip-hop theater will present a lecture and performance that will fuse original music, rhymed language and dynamic choreography. The event begins at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall.
• Oct. 2-4 – Homecoming 2009 activities with the Purdue Black Alumni Organization will include a welcome back reception, a red carpet world premiere film screening of “Black at Purdue,” tailgating and the BCC 40th anniversary celebration reception to honor BCC Pioneer and Legacy award winners. The weekend will conclude with a gospel brunch.
• Oct. 9-12 – Student members of the center’s Performing Arts Ensembles will travel to New York City as part of a field research tour. Students will trace the history and influence of hip-hop in New York City and learn the four essential aesthetics of hip-hop culture: MC’ing, DJ’ing, graffiti and break dancing. Students also will explore museums, meet with hip-hop pioneers and participate in master class instruction by local hip-hop artists.
• Oct. 23-24 – The Black Cultural Center Coffee House will be presented at 7 p.m. both nights at the center. The performing arts ensembles will present an artistic showcase highlighting information gathered from the New York City research tour.
• Nov. 11 – Dr. Benjamin Chavis of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network will deliver a keynote address at 7 p.m. in Fowler Hall. The Hip Hop Summit Action Network is dedicated to harnessing the cultural relevance of hip-hop music to serve as a catalyst for education advocacy and other societal concerns fundamental to the empowerment of youth.
• Nov. 17 – “Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” with filmmaker Byron Hurt will be at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. The documentary examines representations of gender roles in hip-hop and rap music. During the discussion with Hurt, issues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in today’s hip-hop culture will be explored.
• Dec. 4 – The cultural center’s performing arts ensembles will present the annual Cultural Arts Festival at 7 p.m. in Loeb Playhouse. This year’s festival will culminate the semesterlong focus on hip-hop. Tickets are $7 for the general public and $5 for Purdue students.

About the Black Cultural Center

Established at Purdue in 1969, the Black Cultural Center is celebrating its 40th anniversary this fall. The center is nationally recognized and acknowledged by the Association of Black Cultural Centers as one of the best university cultural centers in the nation. Thomas said the center helps Purdue students gain a greater understanding of African-American heritage and enhances cultural diversity on campus and in the community.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University’s African American Studies and Research Center and the Black Cultural Center will feature an art exhibit, reception and gallery talk during February.

The Black History month art exhibit is titled “To Know My Mother’s Name.” The portrait exhibit is by Delita Martin, a Purdue graduate student in the Patti and Rusty Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts. The exhibit is on display from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Black Cultural Center, 1100 Third St.

The opening reception is 4-6 p.m. Feb. 5 in the Black Cultural Center Formal Lounge. Martin will give a gallery talk from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Feb. 25 in the Formal Lounge.

The African American Studies and Research Center is housed in the College of Liberal Arts.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A modern dance concert will explore cultural influences indigenous to Louisiana and their effect on the hip-hop culture Nov. 12 at Purdue’s Stewart Center in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The “When the Delta Speaks” contemporary dance concert will be performed at 7 p.m. in the Loeb Playhouse. The concert, choreographed by Millicent Johnnie, focuses on Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. The performance utilizes the hip-hop aesthetic as a vehicle for providing an artistic response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Johnnie has traveled internationally to research dance and has choreographed performances around the country. A native of Lafayette, La., she has researched the connection between indigenous Louisiana dance forms to that of Brazil and Cuba through the Atlantic Slave Trade. Johnnie served on the dance faculty at Tulane and Dillard universities and has toured as resident choreographer and rehearsal director for the Urban Bush Women. Her choreography has been featured on ESPN, the Sunshine Network, Dancenow/NYC Dance Harlem, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Lincoln Center in New York, and the New Orleans Jazz Dance Project.

The performance is part of the Black Cultural Center’s semester-long examination of the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the retention of African-American culture and art.

Established in 1969, the Black Cultural Center is nationally recognized and acknowledged by the Association of Black Cultural Centers as one of the best centers of its kind. The center’s director Renee Thomas said the center helps the community gain a greater understanding of African-American heritage and supports and enhances cultural diversity in the community. More information about the Black Cultural Center is available at http://purdue.edu/BCC.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A professor of African-American studies at the University of California, Berkeley will examine the continued impact of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath on New Orleans’ African-American community in a lecture Nov. 10 at the Stewart Center.

Charles P. Henry’s lecture, titled “We Are Americans: The Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the Politics of Language,” will be given at 7 p.m. in Fowler Hall. In the epilogue of his book “Long Overdue: The Politics of Racial Reparations,” (2007) Henry connects the tragic events following the hurricane to the need for a public dialogue on racial reparations. The event is sponsored by the Black Cultural Center Library, African-American Resource Program and Research Center and the Diversity Resource Office/DiversiKey. It is free and open to the public.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Henry to the National Council for the Humanities for a six-year term. He is the former president of the National Council for Black Studies and former board chair of Amnesty International USA. Henry authored and edited seven books and more than 80 articles and reviews on black politics, public policy and human rights. His other books include “Ralph Bunche: Model Negro or American Other” (1998) and “Foreign Policy and the Black (Inter)national Interest” (2000). He was the Distinguished Fulbright Chair in American History and Politics at the University of Bologna, Italy, in 2003 and taught at the University of Tours in France as a Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair in 2006.

In April Henry received the Chancellor’s Award for advancing institutional excellence at the University California, Berkeley. A member of the faculty since 1981, he chaired the African-American Studies Department from 2000-02.

The lecture is part of the Black Cultural Center’s semester-long examination of the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the retention of African-American culture and art.

Established in 1969, the Black Cultural Center is nationally recognized and acknowledged by the Association of Black Cultural Centers as one of the best centers of its kind. The center helps the community gain a greater understanding of the African-American heritage and supports and enhances cultural diversity on campus and in the community.