Hip-hop legend Chuck D, leader of the seminal hip-hop group Public Enemy, will be the featured speaker at the McLean Community Center’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration on Sunday, Jan. 15. The event will be held in the community center’s Alden Theatre, located at 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean, at 2 p.m.
Chuck D helped redefine rap music and hip-hop culture with the release of the band’s explosive debut album, Yo Bum Rush the Show, in 1987. Now also a political activist, publisher and producer, Chuck D co-hosted “Unfiltered” on Air America Radio, testified before Congress in support of peer-to-peer MP3 sharing and was involved in a 2004 rap political convention.
Most recently, he has appeared on national news programs providing commentary on the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2016 presidential campaigns. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Chuck D is a go-to voice for insight on technology, politics, rap and soul music and race in America. Few artists have such a sophisticated knowledge and understanding of the intersection of popular culture and politics, as Chuck D will demonstrate by his speech, “Rap, Race, Reality.”
Tickets for the event are $20 for the general public and $10 for McLean Community Center tax district residents. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit aldentheatre.org or call 703-790-0123.