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Panels of Intrest
The Devolution of Hip Hop: Hip Hop Turns 30
Location: Harlem Hospital Auditorium Time: 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Moderator: Mark Anthony Neal (New Black Man)
Panelists: Nelson George (Hip Hop America; Accidental Hunter); Greg Tate (Everything But the Burden: What White People Are Taking from Black Culture, ed.); Ronin Ro (Raising Hell: The Reign, Ruin, and Redemption of Run-D.M. C. and Jam Master Jay), Danyel Smith (Bliss); Bakari Kitwana (Why White Kids Love Hip Hop), Gwendolyn B. Pough (Check It Before I Wreck It) Ralph Ellison only hoped we'd translate black vernacular in such a way as to gain entry into the hallowed house of art. How could he know that Ralph Lauren would one day broker that vernacular's marketing prowess into a worldwide licensing deal for bed sheets writ large with Jay-Z's John Hancock? Where Hip Hop was once a buyer's market in which the audience decided what was street legit, it has now become a seller's market, in which what gets sold as hip hop is whatever the boardroom approves. This panel explores the life and breath of Hip Hop.

8. The Enigma of Beauty: Airbrushed to Perfection
Location: Harlem Hospital Auditorium Time: 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Introduction by: Krishan Trotman (HBF Advisor)
Moderator: Lucille McEwen (Director, Harlem Community Congregations, Inc.)
Panelists: Tia Williams (The Accidental Diva), Iman (The Beauty of Color), Akiba Solomon (Naked), Benide Little (Who Does She Think She Is?), Karrine Steffans (Confessions of a Video Vixen) What is "beauty"? Where along the line did beauty merge with perfection? And, most importantly, what type of beauty
are we being exposed to through literature? This discussion will open eyes to the airbrushed images that bombard our entertainment, and therefore our culture. Perfection may sell, but arguably it is human diversity and flaw that makes life
interesting, and beautiful. Why are we not seeing this reality reflected in the books we read and the images we see?