WEBVTT

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So I was fortunate enough
to meet Thomas Sayers

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Ellis in 2011 when he first came
to read in this reading series

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and to meet with groups
of college and high school

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students.

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During that visit,
I got a chance

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to see Thomas's poetry speak
to people and move people

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and attract people.

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The poem spoke to so many
different kinds of people, too.

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From kids to professors, from
poetry newbies to poetry pros.

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Thomas's poetry is complex
and ambitious and intelligent

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and also makes itself readily
available to the reader

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or listener.

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I think one reason why Thomas's
poetry speaks to so many

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is because it contains so much:
rhythm, urgency, provocation,

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sincerity.

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Fury, comedy, references,
homages, shout outs,

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pop culture, history,
politics, song, edge.

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When Thomas was last
here we discovered

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that in addition to being
a poet and a photographer

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and an editor and a critic
and a teacher and an activist,

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he's also a carrier of the
history of Go-Go, which

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is a style of Funk
music that originated

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in Washington, DC in the 1960s.

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When Hip-Hop came
along in the 80s,

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Go-Go became a collaborator and
cross-pollinator with Hip-Hop.

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Today, Go-Go lives on
in the DC metro area.

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And Ellis, who grew up in
DC, was both a participant

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in and photographer
of the Go-Go scene.

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So he has met the
foundational artists of Go-Go,

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he's photographed
Go-Go, he knows Go-Go.

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OK.

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Abrupt shift coming.

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[LAUGHING]

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So meanwhile, here
in Arizona in 2012,

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the Africana Studies Department
established a Hip-Hop Studies

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minor, which, by the way,
is the first academic degree

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established for the
studies of Hip-Hop.

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This is a fact we can all
be really, really proud of.

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[APPLAUSE]

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Because, think about it.

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African-American music
is one of the brightest

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jewels of human culture
on the global scale.

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And by African-American
music, I mean, all of it.

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Gospel, Blues, Jazz, Rock.

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Pop, Funk, and yes, Hip-Hop.

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OK.

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And then later, earlier
this year, the Poetry Center

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invited Thomas to come back
to Tucson to be our resident

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poet this fall.

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And then we realized, of
course, that Africana Studies

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and the Poetry Center
should work together

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to make possible this
presentation about Go-Go

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and its relationship to Hip-Hop.

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So thank you again to Africana
Studies for your support

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of this program.

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We could not have
done it without you.

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Thank you Thomas for
coming back to Tucson

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and thank you audience
for coming out tonight.

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Now please help me welcome
Thomas Sayers Ellis.

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[APPLAUSE]