A Conference to Celebrate & Elevate the Power of Hip Hop (in) Education
Held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
MOVING TOGETHER
Celebrating 4 Ways Hip Hop Moves Us
This year's conference is designed around four main theme areas listed below.
MOVING PICTURES
Film and photography have long played a critical role in documenting and disseminating hip hop culture—from the photography of Jamel Shabazz to music videos like Run DMC’s “Walk This Way” to movies like Beat Street. Today, artists use visual mediums to blur the lines between fine art and street art, proving that the two are not mutually exclusive.
This track invites filmmakers, photographers, visual artists, film critics/writers, and visual enthusiasts who explore the varied ways that hip hop has taken over our screens, both small and large. Get ready for workshops, film screenings, and panel discussions!
SUSTAINABLE MOVEMENTS
What does wellness and sustainability look like in and outside of the classroom? What ways can Hip Hop be embraced so support mental health and liberation?
This track really showcases Hip Hop genius as presenters reveal the various ways they center it in their practice as artists and educators.
NEXT MOVEMENTS/GLOBAL MOVES
Hip Hop has been the soundtrack for protests in the streets across the globe. So what does Hip Hop for social transformation and civic engagement look like for you? And how are is Hip Hop making moves to spark social change by playing a vital role in transformative education?
Check out how Hip Hop artists and educators around the globe are proving that Hip Hop will continue to be a powerful force in education in various contexts.
MONEY MOVES
From Birth to Earth, money rules our daily lives. We need to constantly enhance our understanding of finances and embrace our relationship with money so that it enhances our lives, not control it.
Join us in a variety of sessions where we cover the history of financial policy in America, dissect the financial concepts you need to know and behaviors you need to follow no matter where you are on your money journey, and discuss funky finances along with ways to finesse your net worth.
3-DAY OVERVIEW
A multi-day event to celebrate how Hip Hop
keeps us connected and moving forward
Thursday, May 20 | 6-8PM EST
Join us for a screening of Wonderland and a panel conversation on Hip Hip and placemaking featuring artists, activists, and elected officials from Massachusetts and California.
Friday, May 21 | 7-9:30PM EST
A space to gather, meet new friends, and appreciate incredible Hip Hop art that keeps us moving and grooving together. Featuring a performance and fireside chat with SAMMUS.
Saturday, May 22 | 10AM-8PM EST
A day-long event featuring presentations and workshops from Hip Hop artists, educators, and scholars making moves in financial literacy, film and visual media, sustainability, educational innovation, and global advancement of Hip Hop culture.
2021 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
REMY
FERNÁNDEZ-O'BRIEN
Remy (they/them) (Arts in Education '21)
is the 2020-21 HipHopEX Lab Graduate Fellow. They are a community organizer and critical hip-hop dance educator, primarily trained in House and Locking.
Remy’s mission is to co-hold space for liberation within public schools, and to support culturally sustaining street dance educators in all contexts.
They specialize in coalition building, youth leadership development, structural visioning within organizations, and socio-emotional learning. Whenever possible, they spend their regeneration and healing time in the forests of Western Massachusetts.
APRIL DOBBINS
April is a writer and filmmaker based in Miami. Her work has been supported by Sundance Institute, Southern Documentary Fund, ITVS, Fork Films, International Documentary Association, and Firelight Media, to name a few. She was a 2017 Sundance Institute Knight Fellow and a recipient of the Firelight Media Documentary Lab Fellowship and Wyncote Filmmaker Fellowship.
Her short films have screened at film festivals across the globe, and her writings and photographs have been published in a number of places, including Miami New Times, Sugarcane Magazine, Cimarron Review, Philadelphia City Paper and Harvard’s Transition magazine. She currently serves as the Director of Prestigious Awards and Fellowships at the University of Miami. She is a graduate student in Harvard’s Arts in Education program.
CONSTANCE GIST
Constance is an O.G. HipHop Head from Da Bronx who is passionate about the music and the money.
HipHop culture has permeated every facet of the world, taking dominant positions within the disciplines of music, couture, pedagogy, dance, art, politics, and more. Finance is a natural extension from all of these areas, so the people who created and cultivated HipHop should rightfully reap the benefits - and effective money management is a key to long term equity. She fully understands how financial wellness is intertwined with our overall well-being -- today and for generations to come.
A passionate finance griot, she uses asset-based techniques to both share insights about the history of finance in America and fortify our personal finance ecosystems. Constance holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science (NYIT), an MBA (Columbia U.) and is a proud member of HGSE Class of ‘21 with a degree in Education Policy & Mgmt. She is also the brainchild behind Harvard/MIT’s first Black Santa holiday ornaments!
CARMEN ORTIZ
Carmen believes in the power of artistry in education. She incorporates the elements of artistry into her role as the Manager of Professional Learning at the National Geographic Society and as a Master of Education candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Carmen also prioritizes creating inclusive spaces for all learners in education spaces and the workplace. Previously, she led the initiatives to diversify the educator community at National Geographic and supported first-generation and part-time students in higher education.
CASSIE
FRANCO-CAMACHO
Cassie is an aspiring Independent School Developer that values creating equitable learning environments for students with learning disabilities. She is currently working on the Marketing Team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the Professional Education Sector, working on promoting professional development opportunities for educators.
This summer, she will begin her Master’s degree in Educational Studies at Tufts University focusing on Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Inclusive Education at Tufts to further explore the lack of female leadership in the Independent Schools space and creating more educational opportunities for students with LDs. She values the arts as a form of education, and is excited to be involved in the annual HHEX conference.