Who are We? Who am I? Stories at the crossroads of HipHop & Faith

Join us for an evening of performances and conversation with Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer and Dr. Jonathan Calvillo as we celebrate 50 years of Hip-Hop. Beginning with performances, we will then engage in a conversation through the research of our guest speakers which examines the experiences of Black Muslims and Latinx Christians in the United States at the crossroads of Hip-Hop and Faith. 

All are invited to join us for a light reception following the event. Books by our guest speakers will be available to purchase. 

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer is a scholar-artist-activist originally from Brooklyn, NY and an associate professor of American Culture and Arab and Muslim American Studies at the University of Michigan. She is curator of Umi's Archive, a multimedia project documenting Black and Muslim histories and co-founder of Sapelo Square, a digital media and education collective on Black Muslims in the US. Trained as an anthropologist, Su’ad’s first book, Muslim Cool: Race, Religion and Hip Hop in the United States, is field-defining study on Islam and hip hop that examines how intersecting ideas of Muslimness and Blackness challenge and reproduce the meanings of race in the United States. Su’ad’s written scholarly work is accompanied by her performance-based work. 

Dr. Jonathan Calvillo is Assistant Professor of Latinx Communities at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.  His work examines how distinct Latinx populations build communities of belonging through spirituality and creativity, often in the face of systemic exclusion. As an ethnographer, he engages the lived practices of religious and creative communities, noting how said practices enliven identities of race, ethnicity, and citizenship. He published his first book, The Saints of Santa Ana: Faith and Ethnicity in a Mexican Majority City (Oxford University Press), in 2020.