I’ve taught courses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 2009, but until this semester all of my courses have been in the Department of African and African American Studies. This semester I have the privilege of developing a new class just a few buildings down from Battle Hall in the Music Department. The course is a Beat Making Lab founded by music professor and budding DJ Dr. Mark Katz and internationally renown beat battle champion Apple Juice Kid. The curriculum covers three areas: practical beat making, a history of beat making, and entrepreneurship in the music industry. Students will learn how to use the open-source software Audacity, Reason 6 and Abelton Live, as well as engage career producers, beat makers and music industry professionals. If you’re interested in keeping up with the class, “like” us on facebook and follow me on twitter (@durhamite). Should be an interesting semester.

For those of you who tweet I highly recommend you follow Dr. Mark Anthony Neal (@newblackman) and Dr. Sandy Darity (@sandydarity). You’ll learn things like this: “@NewBlackMan: Unemployment Rises For Blacks As It Falls For Everyone Else @SandyDarity”. Dr. Neal linked a News One article, but I found another article via CNN, which doesn’t force you to click through an advertisement first.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to follow me - @durhamite!

[Blackademics founder Pierce Freelon writes from West Africa]

Greetings from Accra, Ghana - my home for the next two weeks.

I’ve decided to submit “My View” from West Africa, to give you a glimpse into my experience on the road. I’m here shooting a documentary about black cultural production and migration throughout the African diaspora. I hope to premiere the film for several Hillside High School students at Movement of Youth’s sixth annual Hip Hop Symposium during Black History Month.

Movement of Youth (MOY) is an awesome Durham-based nonprofit, founded by UNC graduate Atrayus Goode. We collaborate every Black History month on a Hip Hop Symposium, and this year’s event promises to be exciting for Durham teens. I am privileged to be able to travel for my work, and feel a responsibility to bring my experience back to Durham.

I left town a few days ago and it’s been fun re-adjusting to Ghanaian cuisine. I had a belly full of Banh’s Cuisine’s spicy chicken wings, fried tofu and sticky rice when I hit the road. Now I’m getting used to Waakye (rice and black-eyed-peas), Red Red, plantains, Fufu (pounded cassava and yam) and fish. Not “fish,” as in a nicely-cut, seasoned tilapia filet from Whole Foods - I’m talking about a whole fish with 10,000 little bones that was swimming in the Atlantic ocean yesterday, now looking up at me with crusty fried eyeballs in a bowl of stew. Pure deliciousness.

This is not my first time in West Africa. Back in 2007, while earning my master’s degree in Pan-African Studies at Syracuse University, I traveled to Ghana to research hip hop in the Motherland. I spent three incredible months filming, interviewing and hanging out with musicians, historians, expatriates and emcees during Ghana’s 50th year of independence from colonialism.

This time I’m working with Brooklyn’s Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) and their partners, MVMT on a film about Pan-Africanism and cultural production. The film follows Ghanaian-born emcee Blitz The Ambassador and Grammy-nominated French-Cameroonian vocalists, Les Nubians as they prepare for a show in Accra. The film also engages a group of Americans, mostly black, who are traveling to Africa for the first time, as they visit the WEB DuBois Center, Kwame Nkrumah’s grave, the Elmina and Cape Coast slave dungeons, and other historical/ancestral sites.

The flight to Ghana was very long. With stops and lengthy layovers at several airports I got the chance to look around, and in the process I developed a new appreciation for Raleigh-Durham International. RDU is a world-class facility - and I don’t just say that because my dad’s firm, The Freelon Group, designed it. RDU is aesthetically pleasing, convenient and well oriented, and frankly, makes the airports in New Jersey, Frankfurt and Accra look bad. Luckily I had an iPod full of J. Cole, Phonte and 9th Wonder to keep Carolina on my mind during the course of the 24+ hour commute.

And Ghana was well worth the wait.

I had forgotten how refreshing it is to live in a black country. To see billboards, commercials and magazines that reflect a healthy variety of images of blackness. To hear and see African music, perspectives and personalities on the radio and television. To see an intergenerational community of people living and hustling side by side. I look forward to bringing these images back to Durham and exposing our youth to a sliver of that experience.

I will be writing every day, and will report back with another article at the end of the trip to let you know how things went. We will spend one week in Accra and another week on the Cape Coast, before I return to the Bull City.

Until then …

[check out part 2 in the News and Observer]

The ad depicts a young clean cut brother chucking his curly counterpart - a beheaded doppelganger with full-blown afro and beard - into the distance. The caption reads, “LOOK like you GIVE a damn: RE-CIVILIZE YOURSELF.” Nivea is a German global skin and body care brand, whose name is derived from the Latin word niveus/nivea/niveum, meaning “snow-white”. Perfect.

Amid tremendous criticism and backlash about the ad, Nivea quickly issued a reconciliatory statement:

“We are deeply sorry to anyone who may take offense to this specific local advertisement. After realizing that this ad is misleading, it was immediately withdrawn.”

But is the advertisement misleading?

Efforts to “civilize” Africans through enslavement and colonization were justified by the likes of Englishman Rudyard Kipling (in his poem White Man’s Burden) as a necessary obligation. Several European nations, Germany included, embarked on campaigns to forcefully assimilate African people into what they professed to be advanced stages of social, cultural and moral development. This included coercing people into adopting and worshiping European religious beliefs, governmental structures and aspirations, while attempting to obliterate indigenous social, cultural and political mores. “Civilizing” missions also involved launching the decapitated heads of those who did not wish to assimilate into oblivion, as is depicted in this ad.

Beyond this historical correlation, the advertisement depicts a modern example of how an African man can go about civilizing himself. Nivea takes Kipling’s role by providing specific guidelines ushering black folk towards assimilation and modernization. Looking “like you give a damn,” presumably about your image, career or life is actually great advice, which is reinforced and institutionalized in schools, offices and police stations across America.

After all, 11-year-olds still get kicked out of school for wearing their hair in cornrows. Having a black-sounding name (or, indeed, being black) makes it harder to get a job and easier to get arrested. This is not Nivea’s doing. Their advertisement, simply provides a reality check - that looking, sounding, acting, or being black is a liability in the civilized world.

Nivea legitimately asserts that if you want to graduate, get a job, stay out of prison and be a productive member of this civilization - you should start by trimming your afro/braids/curls/locs into a clean-cut caesar (ladies get a perm), indicating to other civilized members of society that you give a damn about yourself. Furthermore, you should discard your former self by throwing his/her decapitated head into the snow-white abyss. To quote Charles Barkley, and to place this ridiculous ad in its proper historical context, “anything less would be uncivilized“.

North Carolina is emerging as one of the hotbeds of the international spoken word and slam poetry scene, with several nationally ranked slam poets residing right here in the Bull City.

I had the honor of conducting an after-school program with one of the area’s most talented poets, Durham native Kane “Novakane” Smego. A founding member of the Chapel Hill youth poetry organization Sacrificial Poets, Kane is simply one of the dopest poets and human beings I’ve ever met. His lyrical prowess and compelling delivery is exemplary, but it is the vulnerable authenticity of his stories that has made him one of the most respected, and feared, poets in the world.

The program we run together, Poetic Justice, combines two curricula: a series of spoken-word workshops that Kane designed for Sacrificial Poets called YouTh ink and a hip hop curriculum I developed in graduate school called Blackademics. The result is a new hybrid curriculum we’ve been conducting in the Durham Public Schools system for the past 30 weeks. The results have been stunning.

We started in October at Jordan High School, where we recruited close to a dozen students, all whom had failed ninth grade English. We met Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after school for 10 weeks. Kane and I developed a strong bond with the students and were proud to debut their poetry at Superintendent Becoats’ unveiling of his new strategic plan for the Durham public school system titled “One Vision. One Durham.”

Our young Falcons impressed a room full of teachers and DPS administrators, with thought-provoking and evocative poems that covered a range of topics including love, racism and Hurricane Katrina. Their final performance took place downtown at Motorco Music Hall, where they wowed a multi-generational audience of more than 300 enthusiastic Durhamites, as part of Durham Central Park School’s annual Save Our Arts benefit concert.

After the Jordan program concluded, we introduced Poetic Justice over at the Durham Performance and Learning Center. This alternative public school is a last stop for many Durham youth. It’s where many students are shipped when they are kicked out of other schools.

At DPLC we were able to expand the program to three days a week and develop the curriculum so that students could receive a creative writing credit for the course. This was a landmark achievement for Poetic Justice, and we have DPLC Principal Danny Gilfort to thank.

The DPLC students were just as talented as our Jordan group. We started with a classroom full of students who had little to no exposure to spoken-word poetry, and left with a tight-knit group of poets who are good enough to participate in national youth competition.

Kane deserves a tremendous amount of credit. He’s a natural educator with a good ear and a good heart. We tried to build trust in our classroom by creating a safe space where students and teachers alike could open up and be heard. The kids responded brilliantly.

They wrote about their families, sexual abuse, religious discrimination, enslavement, propaganda, the power of poetry and more. One student wrote a poem from the perspective of women revolutionaries in Libya, while another reminisced about their grandma’s home cooking in New Jersey. The wealth of emotion and vivid storytelling pouring out of these students was nothing short of amazing.

Their final performance took place at Flyleaf Bookstore in Chapel Hill. I was so delighted by what I heard that night, I could barely hold the camera in my trembling hands. I watched as five Durham youth stepped out of their respective cocoons and emerged monarchs, with wings forged of stunning creativity, confidence and clarity.

Durham, I wish you could have been there.

If you are interested in supporting the Triangle’s growing poetry scene, check out Durham’s monthly Jambalaya Soul Slam. You can also support the Sacrificial Poets’ monthly open mics and slams, or visit one of the poetry clubs at Northern, Jordan, Chapel Hill and Carrboro High schools.

You won’t regret the investment.

*UPDATE: read the Daily Tar Heel Review

Close your eyes and imagine you are sitting inside a small family-owned diner in Harlem.

It’s almost 5 o’clock in the morning. The year is 1929. A young man with a flour-dusted apron places a warm, sweet potato waffle and three seasoned fried chicken wings in front of you. It smells delicious. He leaves, then quickly returns with collard greens, maple syrup, hot sauce and flavored butter. The diner is crowded with young poets, painters and musicians unwinding after a long night.

OK, you can open your eyes now. The Harlem Renaissance poets and musicians are now frozen behind panes of glass and framed on the walls around you. There is still a steaming plate chicken and waffles at your mercy. You’re in downtown Durham about to sink your teeth into a signature dish at Dame’s (Almost) Famous Chicken and Waffles.

“There’s a connection between jazz and chicken and waffles,” owner Damion ‘Dame’ Moore explains. “[It] traces back to the Harlem Renaissance, when musicians would play after hours at venues as late as 3, 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning. Some restaurants catered to these musicians and would serve the chicken that was left over from dinner, as well as the waffles being prepared for breakfast.”

It is no surprise that chicken and waffles was born in the spirit of improvisation. Like jazz, which infuses African aesthetics of rhythm, syncopation and improvisation and with European instrumentation, chicken and waffles is also a unique and unlikely hybrid. Infusing a traditional southern African American dinner dish with a breakfast (or dessert) meal of medieval European origin, chicken and waffles has been served in black communities for nearly a century. Now, it’s available in my hometown - Durham.

When you enter Dame’s Almost Famous, chances are you’ll be waited on by one of three artists: Poetic Mike Anderson, Brother Righteous or Poet 231.

Lamont Lilly, also known as Brother Righteous, is the author of a book of poetry and essays called “Sunday Morning: The Literary Mixtape.” He is also an editor and contributing writer for the Triangle Free Press and a columnist for The Spectacular. Lamont explained his relationships with art and community during an interview.

“Activism and art go hand in hand, so I work with [community organizing agency] El Kilombo, tutor, you might see me at Walltown Children’s Theatre or volunteering for Witness for Peace,” he said. “It’s not about just writing poetry or essays. It’s about living what you are preaching and writing.”

Lilly works alongside an emcee and producer who asked to be identified as 231. A tall brother with long locs and a focused disposition, 231 is a self-described “sage hermit” who creates music as well as handmade jewelry.

“It’s been pretty dynamic as far as the teamwork that’s involved [here],” he said of the restaurant. “You don’t see that in a lot of businesses - it’s kind of family oriented. And everyone who comes in is a guest in our house.”

The linchpin and third member of the team, Poetic Mike Anderson is one of Durham’s gems. The Poet Laureate of the African American Dance Ensemble, and director of an autobiographical anti-gun violence film called “S.T.R.A.Y. (Showing Truth Reaching All Youth)” Mike is Dame’s cousin.

“Whenever you rebuild a part of the community that seems like it’s about to fade away, that turns off every investor there was, you have to say that the comeback is a renaissance,” he said. “Now (downtown) is turning heads and folks are invested. … We’re a part of that.”

Mike hit the nail on the head. Dame’s (Almost) Famous Chicken and Waffles is part of a renaissance in downtown Durham with new restaurants, galleries, music venues, and food trucks opening every month. As Durham’s cultural palette expands, businesses like Dame’s feed our growing appetite for diversity and distinguish us as a city with an increasingly unique culinary palate. Many of these new businesses employ writers, poets, musicians and artists - the creative center and foundation of Durham’s reemergence. Dame’s epitomizes this trend. Mr. Moore explains,

“Durham is an eclectic place. We are becoming a destination with a very strong downtown. … [We] want to enhance the quality of life in Durham.”

Church. He is doing just that.

I’ve been teaching a dream class at North Carolina Central University for the past two years called Hip Hop, Music and Politics (it was originally called, It’s Bigger Than Hip Hop: Music and Political Movements - I abbreviated the title this semester for simplicity’s sake). This class is the culmination of my interests as a musician and scholar. We basically look at various political movements, including the Anti-Lynching Movement, Rastafari Movement, and the Black Power Movement and explore how the music of artists such as Billie Holiday, Bob Marley and Gil Scott Heron were in revolutionary dialogue with their respective movements. Sound interesting? Read more in this Campus Echo article written by one of my students, Jorashae Graddick:

If you walk into the special topics in political science course, Hip Hop Music and Politics, you might be surprised to find a professor who looks a lot like a typical college student.

It will be Pierce Freelon, adjunct professor of political science and local hip-hop emcee, standing in front of the class bobbing his head to Bob Marley and the Wailers’ album, “Catch a Fire,” waiting for class to begin.

Or he might be performing a freestyle poem pertaining to the day’s discussion on the origins of hip hop music.
Freelon says his class is designed to help students learn the value of self-determination and begin to choose their own reality.

Freelon said the political science department at N.C. Central University was particularly active in the community when he was an undergraduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill.

“I identified with their grassroots activism and it’s been an awesome partnership thus far,” said Freelon, who teaches a similar course, “Blacks in Popular Culture,” at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Freelon studied African and African-American studies at UNC and he earned his master’s degree from Syracuse University in pan-African studies and the diaspora.

But at the end of the day as he hangs up his professor jacket and puts on an emcee jacket. “An emcee is a part of something larger, a cultural, social, and political movement of hip hop,” said Freelon, who refers to himself as an emcee, not a rapper.

Freelon is the lead vocalist in “The Beast,” a jazz, soul and Afrocuban influenced hip hop group that is active in the the Triangle.

Read entire article at the Campus Echo website.