A unique look at hip-hop culture will be presented by activist and documentary filmmaker Byron Hurt during a talk and screening of his film, “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. in Room 202 McEwen Hall. Among the scholars giving on-screen interviews during the film is Fredonia alumnus and author, Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, who teaches at Duke University.
After graduating from Northwestern University and teaching high school and college athletes about gender issues, Mr. Hurt came to understand the issues of sexism and violence against women prevalent in society and decided to create a movie examining the issues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in today’s hip-hop culture.
The film, by Mr. Hurt’s documentary production company, God Bless the Child Productions, premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was featured on the PBS series, “Independent Lens,” in February.
Mr. Hurt is producer of the award-winning documentary, “I Am A Man: Black Masculinity in America,” and, “Moving Memories: The Back Senior Video Yearbook.” He has lectured at more than 100 college campuses over the past decade and trained thousands of young men and women on issues related to gender, race, sex, violence, music and visual media.
Mr. Hurt’s visit is sponsored by the Counseling Center and the campus federally-funded Campus Education, Awareness, Support and Effect (CEASE) project. The lecture is free and the campus and community is invited to attend.
