North East Black Studies Alliance to hold "Black Power and the Hip Hop Revolution," at Fairfield University on Dec. 6 | Press Releases

Fairfield University's Program in Black Studies, co-directed by Dr. Yohuru Williams and Dr. Renee White, has been selected to host the North East Black Studies Alliance (NEBA) program, featuring the inaugural W.E.B. Du Bois Book Prize and a lecture, "Hip Hop and the Black Power Movement," on Thursday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the DiMenna-Nyselius Library Multimedia Room

NEBA is a cooperative union of Black and African-American Studies Programs in the northeastern United States which exists to promote and encourage the study of African-American history and culture as well as awareness of economic, social, and political concerns for people of color living in the northeastern United States.

Honored with NEBA's first W.E.B. Du Bois Book Prize will be Dr. Peniel Joseph, associate professor of African American Studies at Brandeis University. Dr. Joseph is the author of "Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America," which was named a Washington Post Book World Best Nonfiction Book for 2006 and a finalist for the Mark Lynton History Prize. He is the editor of "The Black Power Movement: Rethinking the Civil Rights-Black Power Era" (2006) and is currently working on a biography of Civil Rights and Black Power activist Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and a study of postwar African American history.

The lecture on "Hip Hop, the Black Power Movement," will be presented by Dr. Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar, associate professor of history and director of the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Ogbar is the author of Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity and edited the volume, "The Civil Rights Movement: Problems in American Civilization." His most recent book, "Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap," was published in October. Both authors will sign books following the lecture.

In emulation of the goals and objectives of the National Council of Black Studies, NEBA works to establish partnerships and open lines of communication with Black and African American Studies programs in institutions of higher learning in the Northeast, and promote academic research in all aspects of the African American experience. They encourage the dissemination of this information to the public as a means of encouraging community building and activism.

Primarily a resource sharing organization, NEBA promotes community service and inter-campus programming. It also sponsors annual awards for one book and one article to highlight and encourage innovating academic work that engages African American history and culture while challenging the African American community in science, industry and public health.

Fairfield University is one of the founding member schools of NEBA, along with Fordham, UCONN, Stonybrook and Connecticut College.

For additional information, please contact Dr. Yohuru Williams, (203) 254-4000, ext. 2322.