A renowned and influential rap and hip hop pioneer will deliver the keynote address at Northampton Community College’s upcoming 2024 Annual Humanities lecture.
Music icon Chuck D. will speak to this year’s Humanities theme of “50 Years Down the Line: A Celebration of Hip Hop History and Culture,” which “explores and celebrates Hip Hop culture’s dynamic mix of influences and styles, how they came to be, how they evolved and how they continue to be practiced and thrive in American culture,” the college said in an April 9 announcement.
“Chuck D. first rose to fame in the 1980s with a string of commercially successful albums that addressed weighty issues about race and inequality with a combination of intelligence and eloquence never seen before,” the college said in a news release about him. “Leader and co-founder of legendary group Public Enemy, Chuck D. and his fellow members have been a historically notable hip hop group, highlighted in many culturally significant ways, including their song ‘Harder Than You Think’ being selected for NBC’s official Super Bowl XLIX commercial.”
NCC sociology professor Andrew McIntosh will lead a discussion with Chuck D., which will be followed by additional discussion including students, the announcement said.
The keynote address is scheduled for Wednesday, April 16, at 7 p.m. in the Spartan Center on NCC’s Bethlehem Campus, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem.
It is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and matching gifts from generous donors, which in 2009 funded an endowment for the humanities at Northampton Community College that continues to support the annual Humanities series.
This local news story was reported with generative AI assistance.
