America’s Most Wanted: Hip hop, the Media & the Prison Industrial Complex
The University of Chicago’s Race Center hopes to spark useful dialogue with their event, “America’s Most Wanted: Hip hop, the Media & the Prison Industrial Complex.”
AMERICA’s MOST WANTED examines the prison crisis by placing two of America’s most influential industries in the crosshairs: corporate-owned media and entertainment.
From exploring trends in national news coverage to debating narratives that dominate hip-hop music and popular culture, a provocative panel of scholars, activists and artists will consider the ways these industries reinforce the status quo of mass incarceration. This forum will also scrutinize how various corporations beyond media and entertainment fuel what activists deem “the prison industrial complex.”
The town hall style gathering will feature Beth Elaine Richie, scholar & author of “Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence and America’s Prison Nation”, Amanda Klonsky, founder of Free Write Jail Arts Literacy Program, Marc Lamont Hill, scholar & co-author of “From the Classroom to the Cell” with Mumia Abu Jamal, Silky Slim, hip-hop artist & founder of Stop The Killing Inc., Niaz Kasravi, NAACP Director of Criminal Justice Program, Che Rhymefest Smith, hip-hop artist, activist and co-founder of Donda’s House, Inc. and Jasiri X, Moderator, Hip-hop artist, activist, and founder of 1Hood.
This free and public event takes place at the University of Chicago’s International House, 1414 E. 59th St., Chicago, Illinois 60637 from 2 pm to 4 pm.