Conference (April 13): Roots and Reality II: Hip Hop, Law, and Social Justice Organizing at Washington College of Law at American University

There's a great conference being put on at the Washington College of Law at American UNiversity this month. The conference brings together great minds from law, hip-hop, organizing, and social justice. The conference can be found at http://www.wcl.american.edu/secle/founders/2011/20110413.cfm.

If you live in the DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia metro area), you should certainly think about attending.

April 13, 2011

9:30-9:55 Registration

10:00-10:05 WCL Founders' Celebration and RRII Welcome RRII Student Planning Committee Member

10:10-10:20 Opening Address

andré douglas pond cummings

Professor of Law, West Virginia University College of Law

Editor, Evolution of Street Knowledge: Hip Hop Law Anthology

Co-Creator, HipHopLaw.com

10:25-10:45 Presentations 'All of the Lights': Life and Law in the DMV Slam! Winners *

Presenter: Dennis Williams, H.B.O. Corporate Responsibility and Slam! MC,

Skim, hip hop artist, Def Poetry Jam poet, activist and artist

10:45-11:40 Town Hall Meeting: Law(lessness) and (In)Justice in Hip Hop Music and the Hip Hop Nation

Moderator: Rosa Clemente, Hip Hop Activist, Former Candidate for Vice President (GP 08).

11:45-11:50 Performance – 'All of the Lights': Life and Law in the DMV Slam! 3rd Place Winner*

11:55-12:20 Address and Presentation

Paul Butler, Dean and Professor of Law, George Washington Law

Author, Let’s Get Free: A Hip Hop Theory of Justice

12:25-1:55 Lunch

Film Screening and Discussion

Beyond Beats and Rhymes

2:00-2:05 Performance – 'All of the Lights': Life and Law in the DMV Slam! 2nd Place Winner*

2:20-3:30 Hip Hop Legal Theory Panel: Hip Hop Nation in the Law School Classroom

Camille Nelson, Dean, Suffolk University Law School

Anthony Farley, James Campbell Matthews Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence, Albany Law School

Nick J. Sciullo, J.D., West Virginia University College of Law, moderator and resident blogger for HipHopLaw.com

3:35-3:40 Performance 'All of the Lights' 1st Place Winner*

3:45-5:00 “On to the Next” Roundtable

Topic: Hip Hop in the Grassroots: Art, Politics Organizing and Activism

Rosa Clemente, Hip Hop Activist Former Vice Presidential Candidate (Invited)

Mazi Mutafa, Executive Director, Words Beats and Life 'All of the Lights': Life and Law in the DMV 1st place winner*

Skim, hip hop/spoken word artist, activist

Head Roc, hip hop artist, activist, advocate for DC Statehood/Green Party and DC City Paper Columnist

Part III Symposium Dinner and Keynote Address

5:10-6:30 Roots and Reality II Symposium Dinner: Social Justice Organizing and Mentoring in the Juvenile Justice System

R. Dwayne Betts, Keynote Address

National Spokesperson for Campaign for Youth

2010 Soros Justice Fellow

Cave Canem Fellow

2010 Winner of NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Debut for his memoir, A Question of Freedom

A Hip Hop Theory of Justice

Professor Paul Butler, George Washington University Law School, recently guest blogged for the Washington Post where he described his vision of a new kind of American social justice, one influenced by the hip hop nation. For the Washington Post, Professor Butler wrote:

"Imagine crime and punishment in a hip-hop nation. Believe it or not, the culture provides a blueprint for the transformation of American criminal justice. Hip-hop leads us toward a system that would enhance public safety and treat all people with respect. Who would have thought that the most thuggish art could improve law and order? . . . .

Hip hop is obsessed with criminal justice. Its fashion actually began as a tribute to the loose baggy clothes that prison inmates wear. Thousands of hip-hop songs consider crime and punishment. They evaluate justice from the bottom up. No other form of pop culture does a better job at reminding Americans that we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world, and that communities can be destroyed by both crime and punishment."

For Professor Butler's entire post, see the WashingtonPost.com.

In guest blogging for the Post, Professor Butler is excerpting his groundbreaking new book "Let's Get Free: A Hip Hop Theory of Justice." The book is exceptional. Anyone interested in the transformative power of hip hop should get this book and read it carefully.

Stay tuned for a comprehensive review of the book in coming weeks . . . .