On Saturday, April 26th, I had the pleasure of speaking with an incredible group of panelists onstage in Chicago, as Depth Of Field presented the “Hip-Hop & Comics: Cultures Combining” panel at C2E2 (the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo). This was the third year in a row I’ve presented at this convention, but my first time conducting one of our Hip-Hop programs there.
I was joined by a fantastic assortment of speakers: comic artist Khary Randolph; visual artist, animator, and “Father Of Chicago Graffiti” Tyrue ‘SLANG’ Jones; author and commentator Ytasha Womack; MC and comic aficionado Thunderbolt Jones; and Grammy Award-winning MC and community activist Rhymefest.
The moment we hit the stage, the energy in the room was electric – I barely had a chance to finish introducing the panelists before the conversation took off in fifteen different directions. Everyone was jumping in, enthusiastically commenting on each others’ stories, engaging in vigorous discussion and spirited debate.
The variety of backgrounds and perspectives made for a really interesting back-and-forth, and we really only scratched the surface of the topic – we ran right up to our time limit, and could easily have gone on for another hour, had there not been another panel following us. (And did I mention that Rhymefest showed up in full Blade costume? Amazing.)
It was an all-around fantastic experience – thanks so much to the panelists, the C2E2 staff and volunteers, and the audience for bringing the noise and energy and packing the room. Let’s do it again sometime, shall we?
Music File Hosting – Embed Audio – Hip-Hop & Comics_ Cultur…
(photos #1-5 by Dan Bejarano, photo #6 by instagram user fockyou_, photo #7 by Daniel Poarch, photo #8 courtesy of panelist Khary Randolph)
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