WVU Hip-Hop Symposium a Huge Success

The West Virginia University College of Law recently hosted a groundbreaking symposium, “Street Knowledge: Examining the Influence of Hip-Hop on Law and Culture.” The event, held on Feb. 12 and 13, 2008 in Morgantown, West Virginia, featured keynote speakers Cornel West and Talib Kweli as well as a number of distinguished panelists and moderators.

WVU law professor andre douglas pond cummings, the symposium chairperson, was enthusiastic following the event. “Our symposium was inspiring,” he said. “Cornel West, Talib Kweli, and our accomplished group of academics described hip-hop's impact on the law in cutting edge and forward-thinking fashion."

West, the distinguished Princeton University intellectual, drew more than 800 attendees to his keynote address at the Mountainlair ballroom. Kweli, a popular hip-hop artist and activist, packed the Marlyn Lugar Courtroom at the WVU College of Law.

The Bar Exam

Artist: Truck North
Track: Singing Man
Album: "Rising Down", The Roots


Uh, what you're witnessing is true dedication
Charged by the call and the cause of the nation
Countdown, minutes away from detonation
A lifetime of grunt work, this is the culmination
My manner, seems patient, inner rage lies
So deep, I can taste it, let's sacrifice lives
Past the first sensation, to paradise I fly
Delusions are lighting up the midday sky
The last days of mine spent in extreme secrecy
Wolves dressed like sheep occur more frequently
Too much faith to be scared, the petrified both fled
Those who live fearing death, might as well be dead
Towers of the occupiers, will soon fall
Martyr or mass murderer? That's your call
Mass transit or a mall? Who can watch them all?
In the name of the merciful, sing me a song...