Filmmaker visits campus to discuss gender roles in hip-hop and rap music

Director and producer Byron Hurt will show his film Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. in Virginia Tech's Squires Student Center Commonwealth Ballroom.

The film will be followed by a question and answer session. Admission to the program is free.

Chosen for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, the movie examines representations of manhood, sexism, and homophobia in hip-hop culture.

Conceived as a “loving critique” of disturbing developments in mainstream rap music culture from a self-proclaimed “hip hop head,” Beyond Beats and Rhymes features cultural commentary and revealing interviews with famous rappers such as Fat Joe, Chuck D, Jadakiss, and Busta Rhymes. The film also features street interviews with aspiring rappers, as well as with young women at Spelman College and at hip-hop events. The film premiered on television earlier this year, hosted by Terrence Howard.

Hurt, a former college quarterback turned anti-sexism activist, provides cutting-edge male leadership, expert analysis, keynote addresses, and workshop facilitation in the field of sexual and gender violence prevention and education. He was the recipient of the prestigious Echoing Green public service fellowship in 1999, an award given to ambitious young activists devoted to creating social change in their communities. Over the past decade, Hurt has lectured at more than 100 college campuses and trained thousands of young men and women on issues related to gender, race, sex, violence, music, and visual media.

The event is sponsored by the Violence Against Women Grant through the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech and the Office of Judicial Affairs, Black Student Alliance, Athletics Department, Office of Multicultural Affairs, College Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center, Office for Equal Opportunity, Dean of Students Office, University Unions and Student Activities, Department of Communication, Women’s Studies Department, Womanspace, SAVES, the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley, and Student Programs—including Judicial Affairs, Fraternity and Sorority Life, and Residence Life.

For information, contact Jen Underwood.