2008 Woodie Awards
Concious flowmaster graces crowd with intellect and charm
Emily Buckley
Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: Campus
Though Tim'm West is an author, hip-hop artist, homosexual, and social activist, he strays away from being defined by these titles. "What's really real?" and "What is it to matter? To make a difference?" were a few questions this great thinker addressed in his seminar Feb. 29 at the MultiCultural Center on campus.
West is making a difference and, along the way, becoming acclaimed for his various homo-hop and hip-hop groups, three published books, and solo music career. In studying philosophy, liberal arts, and social sciences supplemented with a host of life experiences, West embodies a well-rounded critical thinker, and knows how to ask the right questions. Locally, he has played a vital role in leadership with the Intercultural Queer Studies minor offered at Humboldt State. He collaborated with the late Eric Rofes, associate professor of education at Humboldt State, to lobby for gay rights and gay men's health issues. West was a keynote speaker in last weekend's Social Justice Summit.
"A central theme in the seminar dealt with identity. What West presented to students was the subjectivity in identity, which is complex and multiple," said Professor Christina Accomando, an English, ethnic studies, multicultural queer studies and women's studies professor at Humboldt State. This concept aims to make students see that by accepting individual's identities as unique, we stop trying to define, judge and categorize each other.
West said people need to be more understanding. "I'm concerned with finding ways to identify the men and women who are allies but who will be mistaken for enemies. Sometimes it gets confusing to try and figure out whether the warring you do is killing off the enemies, the allies, or yourself," he said.
West spoke about the identities society tends to place on African American individuals within the hip-hop industry, through both eloquent speech and incorporation of his music. By examining the prevalence of violence, negativity, homophobia, and capitalist drive in main stream hip-hop, West pointed to out our negligence in supporting artists who perpetuate these images. "Hip-hop then becomes demonized in the eyes of the public," West said. Payola occurs when record companies play a record more often than others in order to increase record sales. Hearing the same song time and time again causes the listener to become more tolerant, to eventually like and finally even sing the song. West used this analogy to point out how we come to tolerate, accept, and then promote main stream hip-hop.
West called attention to other powerful mechanisms operating in our society that perpetuate the dominant image of hip-hop in American culture by pointing to lyrics of popular artists such as Kanye West. He spoke of institutional racism that maintains differential treatment towards minorities in the main stream image. He clearly defined the word "gay", meant to mean one who chooses a same-sex partner. But he said the term is often used out of context and cast in a negative light. West pointed out that we must see beyond the media hype by using a critical lens to more closely examine what we are putting our dollar toward, and by supporting artists and lyrics that we truly support.
West is making a difference and, along the way, becoming acclaimed for his various homo-hop and hip-hop groups, three published books, and solo music career. In studying philosophy, liberal arts, and social sciences supplemented with a host of life experiences, West embodies a well-rounded critical thinker, and knows how to ask the right questions. Locally, he has played a vital role in leadership with the Intercultural Queer Studies minor offered at Humboldt State. He collaborated with the late Eric Rofes, associate professor of education at Humboldt State, to lobby for gay rights and gay men's health issues. West was a keynote speaker in last weekend's Social Justice Summit.
"A central theme in the seminar dealt with identity. What West presented to students was the subjectivity in identity, which is complex and multiple," said Professor Christina Accomando, an English, ethnic studies, multicultural queer studies and women's studies professor at Humboldt State. This concept aims to make students see that by accepting individual's identities as unique, we stop trying to define, judge and categorize each other.
West said people need to be more understanding. "I'm concerned with finding ways to identify the men and women who are allies but who will be mistaken for enemies. Sometimes it gets confusing to try and figure out whether the warring you do is killing off the enemies, the allies, or yourself," he said.
West spoke about the identities society tends to place on African American individuals within the hip-hop industry, through both eloquent speech and incorporation of his music. By examining the prevalence of violence, negativity, homophobia, and capitalist drive in main stream hip-hop, West pointed to out our negligence in supporting artists who perpetuate these images. "Hip-hop then becomes demonized in the eyes of the public," West said. Payola occurs when record companies play a record more often than others in order to increase record sales. Hearing the same song time and time again causes the listener to become more tolerant, to eventually like and finally even sing the song. West used this analogy to point out how we come to tolerate, accept, and then promote main stream hip-hop.
West called attention to other powerful mechanisms operating in our society that perpetuate the dominant image of hip-hop in American culture by pointing to lyrics of popular artists such as Kanye West. He spoke of institutional racism that maintains differential treatment towards minorities in the main stream image. He clearly defined the word "gay", meant to mean one who chooses a same-sex partner. But he said the term is often used out of context and cast in a negative light. West pointed out that we must see beyond the media hype by using a critical lens to more closely examine what we are putting our dollar toward, and by supporting artists and lyrics that we truly support.
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