Katie Samek-
The Department of African/African Diaspora Studies would like to formally invite the student body to attend “Everybody Inherits the Hood”, a talk by guest lecturer Dr. Langston Collin Wilkins. This talk will take place on Thursday, April 11th at 7:00 p.m. in Beck Hall, room 101. After the lecture, there will be a Q&A session for students to ask questions about the talk, as well as Dr. Wilkins’ work within the African/African Diaspora Studies field.
Dr. Langston Collin Wilkins is an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, teaching in the areas of Folklore and African American Studies. His work aligns with several of his personal interests, especially African-American folklife and music, including how the genre of Hip Hop shaped his upbringing in Houston, Texas. Through his newly-released book, Welcome 2 Houston: Hip Hop Heritage in Hustle Town, Dr. Wilkins reveals how Hip Hop is not just a genre of music, but also “an index or collective of lived experiences of Black people”. He examines music, place, and space, and walks the audience through how “we’re all living Hip Hop, whether we are artists or not”.
“The department of African/African Diaspora Studies, along with Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Doug Thompson, is thrilled to welcome Professor Wilkins to Gustavus, because we recognize how significant Hip Hop is to the Black Diaspora and as insight into America’s past and present,” Dr. Kate Aguilar, assistant professor of African American History said. “The purpose of this interdisciplinary approach is to demonstrate how Hip Hop serves as a source to examine history, politics, culture, and power in the past and twenty-first century.”
As described in its synopsis, Welcome 2 Houston is a deep dive into the complex relationship between place, identity, and music in Houston’s hip-hop culture. Through interviews with local rap artists, producers, and managers, Dr. Wilkins explores how artists, audiences, music, and places interact to create a heritage that musicians negotiate in a variety of ways. From street musicians to underground rappers to Christian artists, Welcome 2 Houston connects the dots between the dynamic reciprocal processes of artist, social spaces, and performance, even as all three perpetually influence and reconstruct each other.
“The working name of Everybody Inherits the Hood, which this talk is named after, came from a statement given by one of my interviewees while being interviewed for the book,” Dr. Langston Collin Wilkins said. “Despite it not becoming the official title of the book, I think it really encapsulates the general experience that I’m exploring in the text.”
This talk by Dr. Wilkins will touch on several of the subjects presented within the book, from the music industry of Houston to how race, space, and Hip Hop all interact with each other, from down in Texas to communities within Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Q&A following this talk will be largely dedicated to the larger history of Hip Hop as a genre, tracing its roots back to the Black Diaspora and before, and following its path forward through the decades and into the modern music industry.
“Hip hop is very much an aspect of African American folklore,” Wilkins said. “It’s a folk practice in itself and pulls together various African American music, oral traditions, and folk art practices across time and space. Even though Hip Hop is an international music industry, it is still rooted [in] the dynamics of local African American communities. Hip-hop is a reflection of the histories, social structures, worldviews, and creativity of Black communities that have withstood immense oppression. Hip Hop is tradition, legacy, and a lens through which we can understand black life in the present and future.”
While this talk covers topics that may be of interest to students currently involved within the field of African/African Diaspora Studies, all students from all disciplines are invited to attend and learn about the rich tapestry of music, history, and folklore that permeates Hip Hop culture.
“Whether you are a part of African/African Diaspora Studies or not, this talk provides insight into one of the most popular art forms today and how it relates to race, space, politics, and power,” Aguilar said. “This talk appeals to all of us who consume popular culture and provides us a way to analyze the culture in which we live and create. Hip Hop acts as a window into larger questions around race and place that Dr. Wilkins will help us walk through.”