| PITTSBURGH—Rapper Chuck D and film director Hype Williams will present lectures as part of the Black History Month celebration at the University of Pittsburgh.
Chuck D will speak at 8 p.m. Feb. 11 in the William Pitt Union (WPU) Assembly Room. As leader and cofounder of the group Public Enemy, Chuck D redefined hip-hop as a socially conscious medium dealing with issues of race, violence, and inequality. Including its 1987 debut album, Yo Bum Rush The Show, Public Enemy released seven albums, with the New York Times naming It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back to the list of “25 Most Significant Albums of the Last Century.”
Chuck D has served as a national spokesperson for Rock The Vote, the National Urban League, and the National Alliance for African American Athletes, while also becoming an active proponent for HBO’s campaign for national peace and the partnership for a Drug Free America. Chuck D published a best selling autobiography, Fight The Power (Delta, 1998). He is working on his second book, scheduled to be released this summer.
Hype Williams, video director, screenwriter, and producer, will speak about his experiences as an African American artist shaping pop culture, at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 24 in the WPU Assembly Room. Williams has directed more than 90 videos during the past decade for such artists as the Wu Tang Clan, Q-Tip, TLC, and Sean “Puffy” Combs. In 1998, Williams made the transition from music videos to full-length movies with Artisan’s release of Belly, featuring Nas, Method Man, and DMX.
Williams has garnered numerous achievement awards since the conception of Big Dog Films in 1993. In addition to his international recognition and countless nominations from MTV, BET, and VH1, Williams was honored in 2000 at the 31st National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Image Awards.
Williams’ lecture is cosponsored by the Black Action Society (BAS) and the Pitt Program Council. Admission for this lecture is $4 with a valid Pitt ID and $15 for non-students.
Student led campus events also have been scheduled to celebrate Black History Month. A “Black Consciousness Bowl” will quiz students on their knowledge of African American history at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 in Room G-23 of the Public Health Auditorium.
Starting at 8 p.m. Feb. 3, and continuing at the same time each following Monday of the month, a different film addressing topics of Black history will be shown in Room 120 of David Lawrence Hall. Other activities include a BAS career week, student group discussions led by Sankofa, and a “Leadership Conference” on the weekend of Feb. 20.
For more information, contact BAS at 412-648-7880.
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