Episode 25: Dr. Ramona Bell and the 11th Annual Hip Hop Conference

Welcome back to Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job With a Liberal Arts Degree! Join Cal Poly Humboldt Dean Jeff Crane as he interviews a range of guests about the value of the liberal arts and the fight for its survival. This week's episode features a conversation with Cal Poly Humboldt's own Dr. Ramona Bell, who for the past 11 years has organized the Hip Hop Conference on CPH campus. This year, for the Hip Hope Conference: Power to the People, Chuck D is the featured guest and speaker! Dr. Ramona Bell is the chair of the Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies department at Cal Poly Humboldt. Ramona’s teaching experience and research interests include Black feminist theories, Africana Diasporic Literature, Black representation and identity formation, and Black popular cultures. Her book manuscript, Sporting DIVAS: Black Womanhood, Empowerment & Citizenship,(Lexington 2022), interrogates the cultural messages that are signified by the representations of women athletes in the African Diaspora. She focuses on the bodies of Black women athletes as sites where the complexities of gender, race, nation and sexuality are inscribed and contested. Individual chapters focus on athletes of various geographical locations: The United States, the Caribbean, Europe, and South Africa. Her publications examine how the intersection of race, gender, class, nation, and sexuality frames the black female subject and how Black women constantly negotiate and navigate these discursive boundaries to make rightful claims to society’s resources. Jeff and Ramona discuss the roots of the Hip Hop Conference and the student's engagement with the event. They also talk about the importance and ongoing power of the work of Chuck D and Public Enemy (in relationship to current events!) and how excited they both are to host him on campus. Follow the show on X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@JobLiberalArts⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ and on Instagram @LiberalArtsJobPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music by Silverman Sound Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job with a Liberal Arts Degree is produced by Abigail Smithson