Gender representation in Hip-hop music — Dr Pharrell Williams
Give it up for Dr Pharrell Williams
When I penned down this article, an honorary doctorate was the last thing on my mind, even though it is well deserved.
Whether it’s through a song that celebrates Black entrepreneurship or an initiative designed to uplift underserved youth, music visionary Pharrell Williams has continually used his platform to inspire, and the Virginia native was recently honored by an HBCU.
According to The Virginian-Pilot, he received an honorary doctorate degree from Norfolk State University.
“Dr. Pharrell” served as the commencement speaker for the institution’s fall graduation ceremony.
Pharrell, a Virginia Beach native spoke before nearly 400 graduates and reflected on the impact and influence the historically Black university, and the city of Norfolk has had on his journey. The mega-producer and songwriter was also named an honorary member of the school’s marching band.
News about the Grammy award-winning music artist’s honorary degree comes months after he unveiled plans to build a private school for low-income students in the city of Norfolk dubbed Yellowhab. The school was created to address socioeconomic inequities within the education system.
As Dr. Pharrell pointed out: “If the system is fixed and unfair, then it needs to be broken…”
“We don’t want lockstep learning where so many kids fall behind; we want bespoke learning designed for each child, where the things that make a child different are the same things that will make a child rise up and take flight.”
Now, this is much more than Blurred Lines!
