The Hip-Hop Think Tank, Department of Pan African Studies, and numerous departments and campus units invite the CSUN campus community to its biennial conference titled, “Bridging the Gaps: Hip-Hop in the Age of Mass Incarceration and Deportation,” scheduled for February 20-21, 2014 at CSUN.
“Bridging the Gaps” will bring together members of the Civil Rights, Black, and Brown Power movements with Hip Hop scholars, activists, and artists along with immigrants rights organizations to explore how they are responding to the prison industrial complex, war on drugs, anti-immigration legislation, and the overall criminalization of communities of color. By illustrating the interconnections between “Stop and Frisk” in New York City, gang injunctions in Los Angeles, the “Papers Please” provisions in Arizona, South Carolina, and elsewhere, and the growing militarization of the US-Mexico border, the conference will highlight the denial of human rights experienced by each of these diverse communities, utilizing Hip-Hop social activism as our primary language.
The two-day conference begins with an opening reception, film festival, and talk by Hip-Hop activist and 2008 Vice Presidential candidate for the Green Party, Rosa Clemente, on Thursday, February 20th in the USU Theater from 5-10pm. On Friday, February 21st, the conference continues at 9am with an opening keynote by Dr. Victor Rios, Professor of Sociology at UC Santa Barbara and author of Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys. The day will continue with a series of panels and workshops with Hip-Hop scholars, activists, artists, and community organizations, such as Dr. Shana Redmond (USC), Dr. Melina Abdullah (CSULA), Dr. Denise Sandoval (CSUN), Boots Riley, Olmeca, Cihuatl Ce, Jasiri X, Luis Rodriguez, the Gr818ers, the Pico Youth and Family Center, Youth Justice Coalition, CURB, Tia Chucha's and many others. The conference culminates with a keynote address by Elaine Brown, former chair of the Black Panther Party, followed by a closing reception and open mic celebration. We sincerely hope that you will join us for this amazing conference.