JX_1Sheet - Jasiri X

Hip Hop artist and activist Jasiri X is a six time Pittsburgh Hip Hop Award honoree with his finger on the pulse
of today's social justice issues and an international reach. Recently selected as a USA Cummings Fellow, Robert
Rauschenberg Foundation Artist as Activist Fellow and BMe Fellow, Jasiri continues to gain support for his
intelligent and thoughtful commentary through his chosen medium of politically and socially conscious Hip
Hop. Jasiri has been honored by the Urban League, Omega Psi Phi, Black Man Can, The New Pittsburgh
Courier 40 under 40, the Black Political Empowerment Project and has received the key to the city of
Louisville, KY for his community work.
Jasiri delivers keynote addresses and speaks on scholarly panels at colleges and universities across the nation
including, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, University of Chicago, NYU and Carnegie Mellon to name a
few. Additionally, he regularly presents at the National Conference for Race & Ethnicity in American Higher
Education, The White Privilege Conference, Women’s Walk for Peace, Netroots Nation, and Rap Sessions. His
ability to facilitate critical thought and provide commentary on topics of Hip Hop, race, privilege, politics and
academia make him a favorite at institutions of thought and higher learning. In fact, in May 2016, Jasiri is
being awarded the honorary Doctor of Letters degree, from the Chicago Theological Seminary recognizing his
contribution towards bringing about justice and mercy in our society.
Inspired by the words of artist and activist Nina Simone who said, “You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as
I'm concerned, is to reflect the times”, Jasiri recently released Black Liberation Theology, his latest album, to
critical acclaim and remarkable grassroots support. He has been featured on websites such as AllHipHop.com,
HipHopDX, and The Huffington Post, and has been a guest on shows as diverse and far reaching as Revolt TV,
Sway in the Morning, BET Rap City, the Michael Baisden Show, Free Speech TV, Left of Black and Russia
Today. He has been invited to perform his own brand of innovative Hip Hop at the Smithsonian, Kennedy
Center, and the Apollo Theater and internationally from Colombia to Germany. His writing has been
showcased on blogs such as Jack and Jill Politics, HipHopAndPolitics.com, and The Black Youth Project.
Not content to simply speak on injustice, Jasiri's passion inspires him into action. He is deeply involved
within national civil rights movements working nationally with The Gathering for Justice, Blackout for
Human Rights, Justice or Else, BYP100 and Sankofa and works tirelessly within the local community in
Pittsburgh. He is one of the founders of Pittsburgh anti‐violence group 1Hood, which works on a community
level to organize and incite change. Jasiri also felt it imperative to later expand his mission to specifically
reaching youth of color in Pittsburgh. To this end, he founded 1Hood Media, a collective of socially conscious
Hip Hop artists and activists who utilize art as a means of raising awareness about social justice matters
effecting people around the world and work to provide traditionally marginalized and at risk youth with the
tools necessary to successfully navigate the new forms of digital media and to create their own narrative,
destroying stereotypes and boundaries as they do so.
Acknowledged by formidable allies such as Harry Belafonte, Angela Davis and Chuck D as being at the
vanguard of a new movement of social change, Jasiri X is a new millennium Civil Rights Activist working
relentlessly to address the ills of today's society. As such, he is poised to lead a global generation in changing
Hip Hop’s bad rap (rep) by staying true to his artistic intention – FREEING MINDS ONE RHYME AT A
TIME.
www.jasirix.com
[email protected]
412 404 2347