With a passion for hip-hop and legal studies, Todd J. Clark, Esq., dean of Widener University Delaware Law School, established himself as a leading authority in this field. His extensive research and expertise in hip-hop’s social impact and legal battles make him the subject matter expert of this groundbreaking cultural movement, as the impact of 50 years of hip-hop is still being discussed.
Through his course, Clark examines the struggles of marginalized communities. He sheds light on the legal challenges faced by hip-hop artists and the industry as a whole while helping his students understand the legal landscape surrounding hip-hop today.
How are you able to intersect hip-hop and law in your classes?
I grew up as a member of the hip-hop generation, so that’s the music that still permeates in my headphones when I’m rocking in the gym, or when I’m driving in and out of school. One of the things that I can say about just being a member of that community, there are certain messages that resonate with me. There’s a certain type of experience that you have as a member of the hip-hop generation and a member of hip-hop culture, so it influences the way that I teach my materials, the things that are important to me, the messages that I’ll often send to my students in the context of the classroom. There are issues that appear for members of our community, and I do a good job bringing those issues into the context of the classroom discussion. From that perspective, just influencing who I am as a person, and who I am as a man, and the way that I think about things, the way that I process information, it’s influenced that aspect.
What are your thoughts about the current state of hip-hop?
When I get a chance to teach my hip-hop law and social justice course, I always talk about hip-hop’s impact on America’s corporate consciousness. Hip-hop has been able to mobilize the Black community in ways in order to ensure that Black folks are adequately represented and that certain members of underrepresented communities are adequately respected. Hip-hop has been very empowering in terms of bringing wealth into our communities, and bringing the issues that are important to our communities to the forefront of the debate and the discussion. I think the YSL RICO case and others are tragic situations, and even if you want to add more tragedy, think about the young people that we’re losing. Those types of individuals that are dying way before their time. Those are the things that really scare me. I think that the hip-hop community is just responding to the realities of the world. It’s sort of their storytelling, so regardless of whether hip-hop was there or not, there is an evil that exists in America that the hip-hop community has to consistently come together to fight against.
