Kendrick Lamar gave us one of the best Super Bowl performances ever, but he's been that guy for a while. In 2018, he won the Pulitzer Prize for music for his album 'Damn' which explores the complexities of modern Black American life. Now a leading university is honoring him in a new, beautiful way.
Starting in the fall of 2025, Philadelphia's Temple University will offer a course dedicated to Kdot. Timothy Welbeck, a civil rights lawyer and assistant professor in the Africology and African American Studies department, designed the course to study Lamar's life from an Afrocentric perspective. Here's how.
Like Lamar's music, "Kendrick Lamar and the Morale of M.A.A.D City" will cover the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of his hometown, Compton, California, explore the policies that shape the stories in his music, and the evolution of West Coast hip-hop.
By viewing his work through an Afrocentric lens, students will unpack how Kendrick weaves African and African American history, spirituality, and liberation into music that uplifts, confronts, and reclaims our narratives.
Turning Kendrick Lamar's music into a course reminds us that telling our stories is powerful. But you don't have to be a celebrity to influence the next generation. What can you do starting today to have a positive impact on our community through your work? Each of us plays a vital role in Black liberation.