MESSAGE FROM THE REGIONAL MANAGER

After many months of planning, it is our honor to present the 11th installment of the South Florida Book Festival to our community. “WORD! Celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop Culture” is our unique way of observing this significant hallmark in our culture through literature as well as visual and performing arts. This is an extension of AARLCC’s mission to collect, preserve, and interpret the history and culture of people of African descent.

Spoken words and rhythm are the raw ingredients of the genre. Like the griots of West Africa, Black youth in the United States used the art of rhythmic recitation to create connection and culture. At its beginning, hip-hop gave young people from marginalized communities the opportunity to both describe and celebrate their lives. “Hip hop music is important,” Dr. Michael Eric Dyson reminds us, “precisely because it sheds light on contemporary politics, history, and race. At its best, hip hop gives voice to marginal black youth we are not used to hearing from on such topics.”

The genre has grown over the past five decades, taking on the regional flavor across the United States and taking its influence across the globe. From its humble beginnings, hip-hop has become a major economic and cultural force that has impacted art, fashion, literature, and language.

The 2023 South Florida Book Festival represents a tremendous collective effort. I am grateful to our planning committee, our sponsors and partners, and most especially, the staff at AARLCC, who worked diligently to make sure this year’s festival was successful.

It is my hope that this year’s book festival offers our attendees, regardless of age, an opportunity to deepen their understanding of hip-hop culture and to connect the creative expression it represents to the lineage of Black cultural expression that has come before it.

Tameka Hobbs Regional Manager African American Research Library and Cultural Center