Students study origins, impact of hip-hop music
John Martin
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Omowale Akintunde teaches a different sort of history class at the University of Southern Indiana.
Akintunde and his students are exploring the origins and impact of hip-hop, from Grandmaster Flash to Kanye West and everything in between.
Discussions are lively and touch on the movement’s impact on everything from comedy to fashion, cinema and politics.
It explores how hip-hop grew from an African American phenomenon to become a global force with no race boundaries.
Akintunde said his class accepts the reality that for many young Americans, artists such as the late Tupac Shakur are as relevant to history as Beethoven or the Beatles.
Required texts for the course are “That’s the Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies Reader” and “Tupac Shakur: Legacy.” Full story
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‘Hip-Hop Doc’
blends passions to
reach students
Kam Williams
While some felt it would be just a passing fad, hip-hop has become an all-encompassing cultural trendsetter, contributing significantly to the elimination of some of our nation’s traditional divisions, such as color, religion, background and profession. Dr. Rani G. Whitfield, a board-certified family physician, is a pioneering participant in that regard.
A native of Baton Rouge, La., Whitfield earned a bachelor’s degree in his home state at Southern University before completing a sports medicine fellowship at Ohio State University and ultimately finishing up his family practice in Dayton, Ohio.
After moving back to Louisiana, Whitfield became active in the community, offering his services to local schools. As the team doctor at all-black Baton Rouge High School, he built a solid rapport with the students, who gave him the nickname of “Tha Hip-Hop Doc.” Full story
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