On Saturday, Jan. 26, hip-hop heads and education-minded students were treated to “Education and Its Consequences Part 2: Bigger Than Hip- Hop.” Among others, the panel featured Mutulu Olugbala and Khnum Muata Ibomu, better known as M-1 and stic.man, of the legendary political rap group dead prez. Alongside them were Umi, an affiliated rapper and alumnus of the Class of ’99; Assistant Professor of Sociology Daniel Long; and Chantaneice Kitt ’13.

Evan Okun ’13 introduced the panel by screening the music video for dead prez’s “They Schools,” mentioning that bringing the group to campus has been a dream of his since freshman year. Okun said that the impetus for the panel came last spring.

“Nick Petrie ’12 invited me to the ‘Left Forum’ in NYC,” he said. “I went to a couple panels featuring M1 and Umi. Afterward I was talking with them and we vibed well, so I mentioned that I’d be interested in hosting a panel/concert at my school, at which point Umi and I realized it was his alma mater.”

A number of co-sponsors, including Writers’ Bloc, Ujamaa, the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development, and WeSlam, assembled funding for the panel and subsequent concert, but the two largest sponsors were the Student Budget Committee and the Sociology Department.

“I think part of the reason the Sociology Department was willing to invest was because I take my classes very seriously here, and this panel was the ‘action component’ of my senior essay,” Okun said.

Right off the bat, it was clear that the panel would not focus on smaller education policy issues, but rather would deconstruct the current educational institutions in America as promoters of stratification and would advocate for self-determined mindfulness in our engagement with the world. Ibomu responded to Okun’s first question on educational reform by rejecting the entire premise of institutionalized schooling and comparing systems of education to a domesticated dog’s upbringing.

“When you put education in a system, it’s already dead,” Ibomu said. “There’s a difference between being trained to do something and being educated. If you see a dog that knows his master’s habits, you say, ‘That’s a smart dog.’ But if you sit that dog outside and say, ‘Be a dog,’ he says, ‘Where’s the lasagna?’”

Dead prez maintained that education should prioritize sociological understanding and empathy over subjects like math, science, and English. The panelists said that on an individual level, people can achieve these aims through things like mindfulness and Buddhist philosophy, but Olugbala argued that revolutionary education is possible on an organizational level, citing schools in Tuscon, Ariz. and Oakland, Calif. as short-lived examples of positive change.

Also on the panel was Long, who discussed his experiences working as an educator in low-income areas and how it affirmed for him the current system’s reproduction of existing inequalities. He explained that the necessity of a college degree to succeed professionally means that community service programs sponsored by elite colleges often function in a paternalistic manner, thus actually reinforcing income inequality. Okun further explained this phenomenon.

“Having labeled ourselves [as] enlightened, us college students ‘grace’ underprivileged communities with the knowledge we have been given,” he said.

Okun further argued that for a Wesleyan education to be progressive, it needs to motivate its students to go above and beyond typical service programs.

“M1, Stic, and Umi suggested that much could be learned from interacting with the Middletown residents outside the paternalistic bounds of a ‘helping’ relationship,” he said.

The forum members suggested that it is possible for a Wesleyan education to cultivate mindfulness, despite the nature of the system to which it belongs. Umi cited his time at Wesleyan as a positive and expansive chapter in his life, and Okun maintained that the potential exists, albeit in small quantities.

“This would depend on people taking the reality that we are egocentric, paternalistic beings seriously,” Okun said. “Our university should support more classes that cultivate this awareness. It does currently to some degree (e.g., Introduction to Buddhism and Paternalism and Social Power), but not enough.”