IF YOU GO
What: Common
Where: Hendricks Chapel
When: March 30, 7 p.m.
How much: $5 with an SUID

Bridging the gap between hip-hop and community awareness, rap artist Common will visit Syracuse University on March 30 to speak about the positive effects of social integration in the Syracuse community and beyond.

 The Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist will spread awareness about Islam and racial issues, host a question and answer session with the audience, and perform two pieces of poetry at Hendricks Chapel at 7 p.m. The event is a collaboration between the Student African American Society and the Muslim Students Association at SU.

 “We carry a series of events on campus where we educate and spread awareness about Islam and also African-Americans,” said Nyuma Njie, president of SAS and vice president of programming for MSA. “Common, being that he is very dedicated to the community, basically does what we do on a larger level.”

 Common has produced more than seven albums, including “BE” and “Finding Forever.” Beyond producing music, in 2007 Common founded “The Common Ground Foundation,” where he reaches out to urban communities in order to help them realize their full potential.

 “We thought this was a very important person to bring to campus to talk about anything about interfaith or lessons in life that students can benefit from, listen to and enjoy,” said MSA president Mahad Hashi.

 Yusuf Abdul-Qadir, president assistant for MSA and vice president of external affairs for SAS, said he hopes to include in the event students from Syracuse public schools in addition to SU students. Abdul-Qadir said he wants Common to inspire the youth of Syracuse to become more involved with the community.

“We’re going to give away about 30 free tickets to kids in the community; that would include local high school students,” Abdul-Qadir said. “We want them to engage with him and see that there’s a lot of opportunities that can be useful.”

 Both MSA and SAS believe that Common has the ability to unite the campus and community through his inspiring lectures and poems, Abdul-Qadir said. He said he believes that there’s a lack of unity on the SU campus not only between Muslim and African-American communities, but also between all groups and communities.

But Abdul-Qadir said he believes Common will raise awareness among the diverse set of communities at SU and beyond.

“We wanted to bring someone who can give to the campus community,” Abdul-Qadir said. “But at the same time, would also bring people together.”

Published on March 22, 2010 at 12:00 pm