Monday, February 4, 2008

Hip-hop hits home

By Katie Libecco

YOUNGSTOWN – What has hip-hop done to Youngstown?

That's what Keith "2Fly" Logan wants to know.

He and Ra'Shawd Johnson, Youngstown State University students, are facilitating Hip-Hop Versus Youngstown as part of the college's Black History Month observances.

The panel discussion, Logan says, aims to address how hip-hop affects the community. Questions and comments from the audience will be encouraged.

Logan says inspiration for the idea came from the BET. News special program "Hip-hop Versus America." The panel discussion included national acts like Nelly, T.I., Mike Jones, BET anchor Kim Osorio, Divorce Court's Judge Mablean Ephraim and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

According to BET’s Web site, the program was a candid, heated forum that allowed audiences to hear the opinions of prominent leaders in hip-hop and politics.

"Hip-hop culture and controversy are familiar bedfellows. Yet, in the wake of the Imus controversy, hip-hop finds itself under an exceptional amount of scrutiny," the site reads. "This... tackles many sensitive issues, including hip-hop’s relationship with criminality and law enforcement; the image of black women in hip-hop; and the pride, embarrassment and confusion blacks often feel over hip-hop’s public airing of the community’s 'dirty laundry.' "

To bring the conversation home, Logan says they'll have local community icons and leaders discussing Youngstown-specific issues. Logan says they'll have people of all ages on the discussion panel.

"We're looking for people to rep their generations," Logan says.

Anyone interested in serving on the panel should contact the Office of Student Diversity at (330) 941-2086 or Logan at keith_logan@hotmail.com.

The discussion will be free and open to the public, but Logan suggests erring on the side of caution in bringing young children to the event.

"We're gonna be keeping it real," he says, noting that some issues may not be appropriate for children.

Still, all ages are encouraged to attend the event to voice their opinion on the effects of hip-hop on the scene, locally and nationally.