The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities council facilitates community conversations following a screening of 2006 Sundance Film Festival selection film, a performance, and a photo exhibition.
CHICAGO –Join The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) for "Loving Hip Hop With Our Eyes Wide Open,"a multimedia program and discussion that will explore the notions of masculinity, femininity, sexism, and homophobia as portrayed through hip-hop and the media.
This program will be held on Saturday, December 2 at the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Randolph St.) in the Claudia Cassidy Theater from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM. This program features a screening of Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, a film by Byron Hurt, and a performance by AquaMoon called Aqua Beats and Moon Verses: Volume II ~ Brotha…Wassup Sun? Youth-led facilitated discussion groups will follow the program. A photo exhibition by Females United for Action (FUFA) will be on display, which presents positive images of young men and women through their own eyes and offsets the messages these young people receive through the media.
RESERVATIONS ARE CLOSED. THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT.
This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are required and can be made at 312.422.5580 or info@thepublicsquare.org. Groups and young adults are encouraged to attend, but groups should be limited to 15 guests per group. Refreshments will be served.
ABOUT THE FILM
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, a 2006 Sundance Film Festival selection, is a ground-breaking documentary that examines representations of manhood, sexism, and homophobia in hip-hop culture. The film was conceived as a "loving critique" of certain disturbing developments in rap music culture by a long-time hip-hop head and former college quarterback, Byron Hurt. Interviewees include Mos Def, Fat Joe, Chuck D, Russell Simmons, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Michael Erik Dyson, and Sarah Jones.
ABOUT CAFÉ SOCIETY
The Cafe Society project began in October 2002 at four area coffee shops. This project fosters a more robust civil society, more cohesive and interactive communities, greater media literacy and a more informed and engaged citizenry through weekly coffee shop conversations about contemporary social issues. Current media reports (along with ample doses of caffeine) serve as stimulants for the conversations. The idea is to cross boundaries of class, race, ideology, and background to facilitate meaningful discussions about the underlying historical and philosophical issues implicated in topics in the news. The Café Society project taps the growing coffee culture in Chicago as a vehicle to promote conversations between strangers (a cornerstone of democratic practice) about relevant social issues, with a focus on the theme of citizenship, broadly defined, and critically examined. City-Wide Café Societies convene quarterly and draw all of the café discussion groups together at one of Chicago’s cultural institutions for a guided tour of an art exhibit or a theatrical performance, after which participants break into smaller moderated discussion sessions.
ABOUT THE PUBLIC SQUARE AT THE ILLINOIS HUMANITIES COUNCIL
The Public Square at the IHC fosters debate, dialogue, and exchange of ideas about cultural, social and political issues with an emphasis on social justice. Programs promote participatory democracy by creating space for public conversations. Knowledge is power, yet much crucial knowledge still circulates only in small, isolated communities. We build bridges between theory and practice in order to empower individuals to use ideas as tools to improve their lives.
More information about The Public Square at the IHC and Café Society is available at www.thepublicsquare.org.
D A R E T O K N O W
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