Professor K

Location

Aledo, Texas, USA

Genre

Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul, and Blues

Favorite Artists

Michael Jackson, Gerald Levert, Babyface, KRS-One, Nas, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Luther Vandross, Toni Braxton, Mystikal, Denise LaSalle, BB King

About Me

My name is April Kinkead, a.k.a. Professor K. I am currently finishing my doctoral dissertation on Black Rhetoric and plan to defend during the Spring 2012 semester. My dissertation argues that Black Rhetoric is a unique hybridization of Western (European) and Kemetic (African) rhetorical traditions that over time culminated into a new rhetoric that sought to reclaim human dignity and liberate Blacks from oppression in a race-based society. I rely heavily upon Heideggarian phenomenological hermeneutics as my theoretical lens for analyzing the role of the Hegelian dialectic (thesis/antithesis/synthesis) process by which the everyday hermeneutic of Black life formed Black Rhetoric as a response to and action against White Supremacy in America. I have had the fortunate pleasure in creating and teaching courses on Black Rhetoric, Black Fiction, and Black Hermeneutics at my university. In my teaching, I incorporate Black Rhetoric alongside my regular curriculum on Western Rhetoric because I hold the pedagogical position that Black Rhetoric is the only uniquely American rhetorical tradition that exists and therefore should be part of the standard curriculum.

In addition to my interests in Black Studies, I am an avid news watcher. I feel it is necessary to keep up with current (as well as past) events in order to understand one’s own place in history. When time permits, I indulge in other interests such as theoretical astrophysics, Egyptology, and attempt to keep abreast of current science, medical, and environmental concerns. I look forward to covering this broad scope of interests during my time on Party 934 while playing my favorite R&B music.

Air Shifts

• Wednesday 9p - 10p EST