Abir Alzinaty

Abeer Alzinaty is a hip-hop artist, writer and activist. Born to a Palestinian family inside the Israeli borders, Abeer learned to express herself through art. As Sabreena Da Witch she has... more

Adam Mansbach

Adam Mansbach's most recent book is the critically-acclaimed bestseller Angry Black White Boy, or The Miscegenation of Macon Detornay, a satire about race, whiteness and hip hop that has already... more

Akiba Solomon

Akiba Solomon writes Colorlines' Gender Matters blog and is an NABJ-Award winning writer, freelance journalist, editor and essayist from West Philadelphia. A graduate of Howard University, the... more

Alexis McGill Johnson

Alexis McGill Johnson is a political strategist, writer, and organizer. She was the Executive Director of Citizen Change, a national, nonpartisan, and nonprofit organization founded by Sean “P.... more

Angela Woodson

Angela Woodson is the Director of Outreach for the Ohio Governor’s Office of Faith-based Initiatives. She’s been a professional in State and County government for nearly two decades. Over the... more

Bakari Kitwana

Bakari Kitwana (Moderator) is a journalist, activist and political analyst whose commentary has been seen on CNN, Fox News (The O’Reilly Factor), BET and heard on NPR. The co-founder of the first... more

Billy Wimsatt

Billy Wimsatt is the Executive Director of The League of Young Voters, which has been organizing hip-hop voters around the country since 2003. The League supports young people to be players and... more

Blitz The Ambassador

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Boots Riley

Boots Riley is a co-founder of the hip hop group The Coup, as well as the group's primary producer, arranger and songwriter. Together with DJ Pam the Funktress, Riley has helped The Coup's sounds... more

Byron Hurt

Byron Hurt is the producer and director of the provocative film on machismo and homophobia in hip-hop, Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs in On Manhood in Rap Music, which viewed at... more

Cathy Cohen

Cathy Cohen is the David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science.  She is also the Deputy Provost for Graduate Education and the former Director of the Center for the Study of Race,... more

Chandra Bhatnagar

Chandra Bhatnagar is a Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s Human Rights Program (HRP), where he leads HRP's domestic and international advocacy around racial profiling, affirmative action, and... more

Chinaka Hodge

Chinaka Hodge is a poet, playwright, and the author of For Girls With Hips: Collected Writings and Poems, and the play Mirrors in Every Corner. Currently Artist in Residence at... more

Chuck D

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Chuck D, is a hip-hop activist, entrepreneur, producer and mc who, as leader of the rap group Public Enemy, helped usher in the... more

Conrad Tillard

Reverend Conrad Tillard is Senior Pastor of Nazarene Congregational Church, a United Church of Christ (UCC) congregation in Brooklyn, NY. A Baptist and Congregationalist (UCC) minister, he was... more

David Banner

In 2003, David Banner released his critically acclaimed debut album Mississippi: The Album. He later went on to release 4 successful albums spawning the #1 hit singles “Get Like Me”, “Play”, “... more

Dr. James Braxton Peterson

James Braxton Peterson is the Director of Africana Studies and Associate Professor of English at Lehigh University. He is also the founder of Hip Hop Scholars, LLC, an association of Hip Hop... more

Ebony Utley

Ebony A. Utley is an author, scholoar and public intellectual. Associate Professor of Communiciation Studies at California State University Long Beach, her groundbreaking book Rap and... more

Eddie Glaude

Eddie Glaude, Jr is chair of the Center for African-American Studies and the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and African-American Studies in the department of religion at Princeton... more

Elizabeth Méndez Berry

Elizabeth Méndez Berry is a journalist who has written about culture, education and criminal justice for the Washington Post, Vibe, The Nation, Latina and Time. “Love Hurts," her investigative... more

Erica Williams

Erica Williams, often called the “Tony Robbins of Social Change”, is the CEO of Foolish Live Ventures. Foolish Life works with individuals, organizations and brands to unlock the power of social... more

Ernie Paniccioli

Regarded by most to be the premier “Hip-Hop photographer in America”, Paniccioli first made his foray into the culture in 1973 when he began capturing the ever-present graffiti art dominating New... more

Haki Madhubuti

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Invincible

Invincible is a Detroit based Hip-Hop artist.  She began penning lyrics at the age of nine, shortly after moving to the Midwest from the Middle East and learning English by memorizing her... more

Jabari Asim

Jabari Asim is the Editor-in-chief of Crisis magazine (a cultural and political journal published by the NAACP and founded by W.E.B Dubois in 1910).  He is the former deputy book editor for the... more

James Peterson

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... more

Jasiri X

Jasiri X is an independent hip-hop artist who emerged on the national scene with the powerful hit song “Free The Jena 6.” Since then he’s been the creative force behind the groundbreaking... more

Jason Hamza Perez

Hamza Perez is an independent hip-hop artist, activist and educator. The founder of the S.H.E.H.U. Program (Services Helping to Empower and Heal Urban Communities) and co-founder of the Light of... more

Jeff Johnson

Jeff Johnson is The Executive Director of Truth is Power. He has served as the national youth director for The NAACP, Vice President of Russell Simmons’ Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and Deputy... more

Jennifer Taylor

An award-winning independent filmmaker, Jennifer Maytorena Taylor often focuses her work on Latino themes with Spanish-language content. Her credits include the documentaries Special... more

Joan Morgan

Joan Morgan is the author of the bestselling When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My Life as a Hip-Hop Feminist. Since she published the book in 1998, Morgan has been a widely sought after... more

Joe Schloss

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John Jennings

John Jennings is an Associate Professor of Visual Studies at the State University of New York-Buffalo. His research and teaching focus on the analysis, explication, and disruption of African... more

Jorge “Popmaster” Fabel Pabon

Jorge “Popmaster” Fabel Pabon is a renowned Hip Hop dancer, choreographer and historian. The Senior Vice President of the Rock Steady Crew, he’s also co founder of Tools of War, a hip-hop pr and... more

Keisha Senter

Keisha Senter is the Director of Clinton Global Initiative University, the youth arm of Clinton Global Initiative. Clinton Global Initiative University is President Bill Clinton’s new project... more

Laura Washington

Laura S. Washington, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, brings more than two decades of experience as a non-profit professional and multi-media journalist who specializes in African-American... more

Lester Spence

Lester Spence is Associate Professor of Political Science and Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of Stare in the Darkness: The Limits of Hip-Hop and Black Politics (... more

Lisa Fager Bediako

Lisa Fager Bediako is President and Co-Founder of Industry Ears, Inc., an advocacy/activist think tank concerned with the impact of media on children and communities of color. Ms. Bediako, an... more

Liz Havstad

Liz Havstad is the Director of Civic Engagement and Strategic Growth for the Hip Hop Caucus, a national, non-profit organization that engages young people in the civic process by connecting... more

M-1

M-1 is the stage name of Mutulu Olugbala, best known as one half of the political, hip-hop duo dead prez. In 2000, M-1 and partner stic.man released their critically acclaimed debut album Let’s... more

Malkia Cyril

Malkia Cyril is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Media Justice (CMJ).  As an award-winning organizer and communications leader, Malkia has more than 15 years experience... more

Marc Lamont Hill

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill has lectured widely and provides regular commentary for media outlets like NPR, Washington Post, Essence Magazine, and New York Times. He is the author of Beats, Rhymes, and... more

Mark Anthony Neal

Mark Anthony Neal is the author of What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture (1998) and Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic (2002). A self-... more

Martha Diaz

Martha Diaz is the Founder and President of the Hip-Hop Association. She’s also the Executive Producer of the Hip-Hop International Film Festival (which celebrates and showcases scores of hip-hop... more

Maya Rockeymoore

Maya Rockeymoore is President and CEO of Global Policy Solutions, a Washington, DC-based policy consulting firm, and an Adjunct Professor in the Women in Politics Institute at American University... more

MC Serch

Host of both VH-1 reality shows "The White Rapper Show" and "Miss Rap Supreme", MC Serch emerged on the hip-hop scene as a member of  3rd Base before launching a solo career. He was the executive... more

Michael Skolnik

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Nura Maznavi

Nura Maznavi is a full-time staff attorney with Muslim Advocates leading its Program to End Religious & Racial Profiling. Prior to joining Muslim Advocates, she was an associate with the law... more

Oliver Wang

Oliver Wang is a cultural critic whose writings on pop music and film have appeared in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Wax Poetics, LA Weekly, URB, the Village Voice, Popmatters.Com, Vibe,... more

Rahiel Tesfamariam

Rahiel Tesfamariam is the Founder/ Editorial Director of UrbanCusp.com, a cutting edge online magazine that highlights progressive urban culture, faith, social change and global awareness. She is... more

Raquel Z. Rivera

Raquel Z. Rivera is a freelance journalist and has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the City University of New York Graduate Center. Her articles, stories and poetry have appeared in newspapers El... more

Reverend Lennox Yearwood

Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., President and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, is a minister, community activist and one of the most influential people in Hip Hop political life. He works tirelessly to... more

Rob “Biko” Baker

Rob “Biko” Baker is the Executive Director of The League of Young Voters, which has been organizing hip-hop voters around the country since 2003. In his home community of Milwaukee, he has used... more

Rosa Clemente

Rosa Clemente is a community organizer and journalist. In 2008 she was the Vice Presidential candidate for the Green Party.  Her commentary has appeared on CNN, C-Span, and other leading news... more

Samy Alim

Dr. Samy Alim is an Associate Professor of Education, Linguistics, and Comparative Studies of Race & Ethnicity at Stanford University. His research interests include the long-term study of... more

Shamako Noble

Shamako Noble is the co-founder and Executive Director of The Hip-Hop Congress. Shamako also currently serves as the Director of Education for the Hip-Hop Association, a grassroots organization... more

Sonia Sanchez

Sonia Sanchez is a renowned writer, poet, playwright and activist. An influential force in African American literary and political culture for over three decades, she was also in the forefront of... more

Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli emerged on the national hip-hop scene as part of the rap group Black Star, along with Mos Def and DJ Hi-Tec in 1998, with the debut album... more

Toni Blackman

Toni Blackman is a poet, rap lyricist and actress.  She was the first Hip-Hop artist selected to work as a Cultural Ambassador traveling with the US Department of State. Toni has traveled... more

Tracy Sharpley-Whiting

Tracy Sharpley-Whiting is the author of the forthcoming book on Black women and hip-hop, Pimps Up, Ho\'s Down: Young Black Women, Hip-Hop and the New Gender Politics (New York University Press,... more

Treva Lindsey

Treva Lindsey is an Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her research and teaching interests include African American women’s history, black... more

Tricia Rose

Author of four books including the 1994 first scholarly text on hip-hop culture Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America, Dr. Rose is Professor and Chair of Africana... more

Van Jones

Van Jones is president and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream, a platform for bottom-up, people-powered innovations to help fix the U.S. economy. A Yale-educated attorney, Van has written two New... more

Vijay Prashad

Vijay Prashad is Professor and Director of the International Studies Program at Trinity College. He is the author of a dozen books, including most recently The Darker Nations: A People's History... more