UK to Host Latinx Hip-hop Artist, Scholar Olmeca
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 30, 2020) — Next week, the University of Kentucky Martin Luther King (MLK) Center will welcome Latinx hip-hop artist Olmeca to the UK campus.
The bilingual artist, producer, activist and scholar will give talks at noon and 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, in the MLK Center, followed by a concert at 5 p.m. in Cats Den at the Gatton Student Center.
The event is free and open to the UK community and public.
Olmeca is a Kennedy Center Artist Fellow and faculty member at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has been featured in numerous national media outlets, as well as documentaries including PBS’ “Independent Lens” and “Two Americans,” which explores immigration issues in Arizona. He has written music for popular television shows, including “Sons of Anarchy” and "Mayans M.C." on FX and “Chance” on Hulu.
“We are very excited to have David 'Olmeca’ Barragán coming to campus,” said Ruth González Jiménez, event organizer and Latino student community specialist in the MLK Center. “His workshops, talks and concert will be valuable to our communities and relevant to current events and understanding our places as residents of this country, given all the intersecting identities we share.”
In addition to the Feb. 5 events, Olmeca will also deliver the lunch keynote and a perform at UK’s inaugural Men of Color Symposium Feb. 6. Registration for this symposium is full.
“It will be an engaging couple days, and we can’t wait to share them with our campus and greater communities,” González said.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.