Roy Whitaker – The Conversation

Hip-hop culture spread quickly – to places like London, seen here in 1984. Kerstin Rodgers/Redferns

August 11, 2023

Hip‑hop at 50: 7 essential listens to celebrate rap’s widespread influence

Howard Manly, The Conversation; Jamaal Abdul-Alim, The Conversation; Matt Williams, The Conversation; Molly Jackson, The Conversation, and Nick Lehr, The Conversation

On Aug. 11, 1973, a block party in the Bronx spawned a genre that would go on to influence nearly all aspects of US culture – and the music, fashion and art of countries around the world.

The exhibit “Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures” at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., on May 4, 2023. Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images

August 9, 2023

Through space and rhyme: How hip‑hop uses Afrofuturism to take listeners on journeys of empowerment

Roy Whitaker, San Diego State University

Afrofuturism, a mix of science fiction, magic realism and liberation politics, has shaped some hip-hop artists’ work for decades.

Martin Luther King, Jr. leads a group that includes a nun and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel during the Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights march. Bettmann via Getty Images

March 30, 2023

MLK’s vision of social justice included religious pluralism – a house of many faiths

Roy Whitaker, San Diego State University

Religious pluralism and social justice were at the core of King’s campaigns – a vision shaped by influences as diverse as Gandhi, the Black church, Greek classics and Buddhism.

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