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Word: Life: An Opinionated Mixtape of Hip Hop Journalism

Word: Life: An Opinionated Mixtape of Hip Hop Journalism is a two-day conference sponsored by Columbia Journalism School, Critical Minded, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to recognize the people, publications, and programs that have shaped hip hop journalism over the past 50 years.

A number of events over the past year have commemorated the birth of hip hop with the 50th anniversary of Kool Herc’s legendary party. This conference celebrates a half-century of the people whose pens, voices, and ideas have been as central to hip hop as the art form itself. The two-day program takes a mixtape-style format that aims to conjure the spirit of hip hop journalism at its most vibrant, featuring newer practitioners alongside those who defined the genre and offering a window into its impact, challenges, and evolution. 

Among the major creative art forms of the 20th century United States, hip hop is the only one in which the primary reporters, critics, and chroniclers were people of color. Unlike the canon of rock journalists whose contributions are well noted, the reporters who covered hip hop–particularly in its most formative stages–have not received the same degree of acknowledgement. This conference marks one step toward changing that.

Panels will include:

  • Nelson George on his 1978 Amsterdam News article about DJ Kool Herc
  • Flyboy Unbound: The Life and Significance of Greg Tate
  • The Culture is Visual: Hip Hop Photography
  • In Her Own Words: Women Journalists on Covering Hip Hop
  • The Architects: A Conversation Between Editors

Speakers: Jelani Cobb, Elizabeth Méndez Berry, rashid shabazz, Nelson George, Bakari Kitwana, Scott Poulson-Bryant, Kierna Mayo, Sheena Lester, Davey D, Andre Gee, Karen Good-Marable, Akiba Solomon, Minya Oh, Michelle Willems, Martha Cooper, Sue Kwon, Ernie Paniccioli, Jason King, Syreeta Gates, Jeff Chang, dream hampton, Mark Anthony Neal, Joan Morgan, Jayson Rodriguez, Jouelzy, Rawiya Kameir, Jay Smooth, Jesse Washington, Joy Bivins, David Hajdu, Nicole Counts, Doreen St. Félix, Sidney Madden, Shamira Ibrahim, Clover Hope, Kierna Mayo, kris ex, Black Thought

When: February 20-21, 2024

Where: Day One at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Blvd New York, NY 10037; Day Two at the Columbia Journalism School, Pulitzer Hall, 2950 Broadway New York, NY 10027

RSVP Required: Register here.











When: Tue., Feb. 20, 2024 - Thu., Feb. 22, 2024 at 12:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Blvd.
212-491-2200
Price: Free
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Word: Life: An Opinionated Mixtape of Hip Hop Journalism is a two-day conference sponsored by Columbia Journalism School, Critical Minded, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to recognize the people, publications, and programs that have shaped hip hop journalism over the past 50 years.

A number of events over the past year have commemorated the birth of hip hop with the 50th anniversary of Kool Herc’s legendary party. This conference celebrates a half-century of the people whose pens, voices, and ideas have been as central to hip hop as the art form itself. The two-day program takes a mixtape-style format that aims to conjure the spirit of hip hop journalism at its most vibrant, featuring newer practitioners alongside those who defined the genre and offering a window into its impact, challenges, and evolution. 

Among the major creative art forms of the 20th century United States, hip hop is the only one in which the primary reporters, critics, and chroniclers were people of color. Unlike the canon of rock journalists whose contributions are well noted, the reporters who covered hip hop–particularly in its most formative stages–have not received the same degree of acknowledgement. This conference marks one step toward changing that.

Panels will include:

  • Nelson George on his 1978 Amsterdam News article about DJ Kool Herc
  • Flyboy Unbound: The Life and Significance of Greg Tate
  • The Culture is Visual: Hip Hop Photography
  • In Her Own Words: Women Journalists on Covering Hip Hop
  • The Architects: A Conversation Between Editors

Speakers: Jelani Cobb, Elizabeth Méndez Berry, rashid shabazz, Nelson George, Bakari Kitwana, Scott Poulson-Bryant, Kierna Mayo, Sheena Lester, Davey D, Andre Gee, Karen Good-Marable, Akiba Solomon, Minya Oh, Michelle Willems, Martha Cooper, Sue Kwon, Ernie Paniccioli, Jason King, Syreeta Gates, Jeff Chang, dream hampton, Mark Anthony Neal, Joan Morgan, Jayson Rodriguez, Jouelzy, Rawiya Kameir, Jay Smooth, Jesse Washington, Joy Bivins, David Hajdu, Nicole Counts, Doreen St. Félix, Sidney Madden, Shamira Ibrahim, Clover Hope, Kierna Mayo, kris ex, Black Thought

When: February 20-21, 2024

Where: Day One at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Blvd New York, NY 10037; Day Two at the Columbia Journalism School, Pulitzer Hall, 2950 Broadway New York, NY 10027

RSVP Required: Register here.

Buy tickets/get more info now