PULLMAN, Wash. – Hip-hop video blogger and cultural commentator Jay Smooth will present “Hip-Hop, Race and Politics: The Way We Talk About Things” at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in the CUB auditorium at Washington State University. Admission is free to the public, and a reception will follow.
Smooth is best known for his award-winning “Ill Doctrine” Web video series, which tackles social and political issues through commentaries like “How to Tell Someone They Sound Racist” (https://youtu.be/b0Ti-gkJiXc) and “What Not to Do When Covering a Woman Running for President.”
“Jay Smooth has the uncanny ability to break down important and complicated issues around race and social justice in ways that make their significance crystal clear,” said Lisa Guerrero, associate professor in the WSU Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies, which is hosting Smooth’s talk as part of its speaker series. “He is in the best tradition of Malcolm X – he makes it plain.”
Smooth started his career at WBAI radio, where in 1991 he founded New York’s longest running hip-hop radio show, “The Underground Railroad.” In 1997 he founded one of the first hip-hop websites, http://hiphopmusic.com, where he pioneered hip-hop blogging.
Most recently Smooth has won acclaim for commentaries on politics and culture at http://illdoctrine.com. The site’s unique mix of humor and incisive analysis has garnered millions of views and been frequently featured by NPR, Current TV and MSNBC. “Ill Doctrine” videos have become part of the curriculum in many schools and universities.
Parking on campus is free without a permit in most Green, Yellow and Red zones after 5 p.m. Garages in the Terrell Library and Smith CUE offer convenient paid parking 24 hours a day. Maps and disability parking information may be found at http://transportation.wsu.edu.
Contact:
David J. Leonard, WSU Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies (http://ccgrs.wsu.edu/), 509-335-2605, djl@wsu.edu
