Luminaries in the Schomburg Center's Collections Referenced in Rap
The New York Public Library (NYPL)
Luminaries in the Schomburg Center’s collections who are referenced in rap music and music videos.&nbsp;
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The New York Public Library
Rap music has been and continues to be a platform to discuss the struggles of communities of color, speak out against police brutality, advocate for equality and justice, and discuss everyday life. Sometimes, inspiration for rap lyrics has come from the works and legacies of people such as poet Maya Angelou, writer James Baldwin, activist Marcus Garvey, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and activist Malcolm X. These luminaries all have their papers, photographs, and more at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and you can discover some of the highlights in their collections below.

November, which is Hip-Hop History Month, is a terrific time to learn more about some of the visionaries mentioned by rap artists in their lyrics or referenced in their music videos. You can schedule a research appointment to explore in person at the Schomburg Center. If you cannot make it to the Center, portions of some collections are available to view online.

Activist, actress, filmmaker, journalist, and scholar Maya Angelou (1928–2014) was an acclaimed poet and novelist. Her 1978 anthology And Still I Rise includes the poem “Still I Rise,” which discusses resiliency when deflecting people and circumstances attempting to tear you down.

“You may write me down in history/ With your bitter, twisted lies/ You may trod me in the very dirt/ But still, like dust, I’ll rise,” wrote Angelou in her iconic poem.

The title has been used by lyricists such as Tupac. His song “Still I Rise” was originally recorded during the making of his 1996 album All Eyez on Me. It was later remixed and included on his 1999 posthumous album of the same name, according to Genius.com.

Nicki Minaj used the name for a single from her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. She also incorporated the phrase into her rhyme.

Drake mentioned Angelou and her poem by name on the song "Is There More," which was from his 2018 album Scorpion.

In a 2019 interview with BET.com, Rapsody stated Angelou was one of her influences and favorite poets. The rapper dedicated her album Eve to Angelou and other civil rights activists such as singers Nina Simone and Roberta Flack.

The Schomburg Center is home to the collection of Maya Angelou. The Maya Angelou Papers in the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division (MARB) include proofs from the book And Still I Rise and scripts from the poem as a musical starring Clifton Davis, Ja’net DuBois, and Larry Leon Hamlin. There are also proofs of different book covers over the years such as a version using artwork by painter Diego Rivera to illustrate the poem. Other papers include handwritten letters and unpublished works.

The Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division (JBH) has a copy of And Still I Rise. Angelou’s collection also includes materials in the Center’s Art and Artifacts, Moving Image and Recorded Sound (MIRS), and Photographs and Prints divisions.

Did you know Angelou was also a songwriter? She co-wrote “And So It Goes” for Roberta Flack’s 1988 album Oasis. Angelou’s archive in MARB has the lyrics.

James Baldwin was an acclaimed novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and activist. His books such as The First Next Time sparked conversations on race and society’s double standards for Black people.

The lyrics from rap artist and singer Lauryn Hill’s song "Black Rage" appear to be inspired by a 1961 quote by Baldwin (1924–1987). “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time—and in one’s work,’ he said. “And part of the rage is this: It isn't only what is happening to you. But it's what's happening all around you and all of the time in the face of the most extraordinary and criminal indifference, indifference of most white people in this country, and their ignorance.”

Hill’s lyrics for “Black Rage” were part of a 2012 poem. She set it to music following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, according to BlackWiki.

Nas’s 2008 single “You Can’t Stop Us Now” featuring Eban Thomas and The Last Poets includes a brief interlude which includes a quote from Baldwin’s 1963 book The Fire Next Time: “As James Baldwin says, ‘You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world considers a n@#$%^.'”

In a 2023 interview with Ebro Darden for Apple Music, Killer Mike called Baldwin “one of his heroes.”

The Center holds the James Baldwin Papers. His collection contains manuscripts, poems, correspondence, audio materials, and more. MARB holds the typed manuscripts of the essay “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my Nephew," which includes the sentence. Researchers can request a scan of The Fire Next Time through JBH to read the book.

Digitized items from Baldwin’s collection include “Open Letter to A My Sister, Miss Angela Davis, in Care of the Silent Majority” and a playbill from The Amen Corner.

Black Star Line refers to the shipping company and passenger line established by Marcus Garvey (1887–1940) and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which he founded. The ships were envisioned to return Black people to Africa to create an independent nation. Through trade, the vessels would be used to secure economic freedom.

For their 1993 album In God We Trust, the group Brand Nubian had the song “Black Star Line,” which paid tribute to Garvey and his message of Black empowerment and economic independence.

Yaslin Bey—then known as Mos Def—and Talib Kweli formed the hip-hop duo Black Star, naming it after Garvey’s passenger line. Their lyrics are “deeply rooted in social consciousness and political issues,” according to Kweli’s website.

Jamaican-born Garvey emigrated to the U.S. in 1916 where he established the Harlem branch of the UNIA. Financial and operational problems plagued the company. It eventually went bankrupt. The government charged Garvey with mail fraud because of how the company sold its stock to the public. Garvey received a five-year sentence in 1923. The case eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court where Garvey lost his appeal. He was deported in 1927.

The Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division (MARB) holds the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the Universal Negro Improvement Association Miscellaneous collection​s. Items include business records, membership certificates, loan books, Black Star Line stock certificates, plus receipts for shares in the shipping line. Information spans 1918 through the mid-1930s. Records of the New York chapter are on microfilm at JBH.

The Photographs and Prints Division holds pictures of Garvey and the UNIA. Images include the organization’s 1920 parade in Harlem and portraits of Garvey as a child. A portion of the collection has been digitized.

Lorraine Hansberry (1930–1965) made history in 1959 as the first African American female playwright to have her work, A Raisin in the Sun, produced on Broadway. The play went on to receive the New York Drama Critics Award. The win made Hansberry the youngest and the first African American to receive the prize.

“You are young, gifted, and Black," said Hansberry when speaking with a group of students who won a national essay contest in creative writing. "In the year 1964, I, for one, can think of no more dynamic combination that a person might be."

The words “young, gifted, and Black” coined a new term in the lexicon.

Big Daddy Kane used Hansberry’s words for one of the tracks of his 1989 album It’s A Big Daddy Thing.

Rapsody used the phrase as part of the opening chorus of “Laila’s Wisdom” from her 2017 album of the same name.

To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words is also the title of Hansberry’s posthumous autobiography, which was adapted by her husband Robert Nemiroff. The book contains drawings and art by Hansberry. Longtime friend James Baldwin wrote the introduction. JBH has a copy of the book.

The Lorraine Hansberry Papers include her journals, short stories, poems, and speeches. There is also a script from A Raisin in the Sun along with unfinished plays and film scripts such as Toussaint and The Drinking Gourd. Some of her materials in MARB are available to view online.

Hansberry's collection in the Photographs and Prints Division includes promotional stills from A Raisin in the Sun as well as To Be Young, Gifted and Black. There are over 700 items.

Malcolm X (1925–1965) was a leader who pushed for civil rights in the U.S. and helped to broaden the call on an international stage. After leaving the Nation of Islam, he founded the Muslim Mosque Incorporated and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. He advocated for Black economic independence and self-determination. A brilliant orator, his speeches such as “The Ballot or the Bullet” continue to inspire.

The album cover of Boogie Down Productions’s 1988 album By All Means Necessary takes its name from a portion of a quote from Malcolm X and an iconic image of him standing near a window looking out and holding a gun. The music video for their single “My Philosophy” includes a photograph of the human rights activist in the background.

Public Enemy mentioned Malcolm X in rhymes such as 1988’s “Louder Than a Bomb,” plus included images of him in music videos such as 1989’s “Fight the Power" and 1991’s “Shut ‘Em Down.”

"Self-Destruction," a song in support of the Stop the Violence Initiative, opens with an audio sample of Malcolm X. KRS-One and Chuck and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy are featured on the song.

“We agree tonight, all of the speakers have agreed that America has a very serious problem," said Malcolm X in his 1963 speech "Message to the Grassroots." "Not only does America have a very serious problem but our people have a very serious problem.”

The duo dead prez mentions Malcolm X in 2004’s “Malcolm, Garvey, Huey” as he tells listeners to learn about Malcolm X in addition to Marcus Garvey and Huey Newton.

The Center is home to the collection of Malcolm X. Materials include handwritten letters, notes for his speeches, photographs, travel diaries from trips to Africa and the Middle East.

The Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division (MIRS) holds the audio with his speeches. Their collection also contains the disc Malcolm X, 1925-1965. It includes a compilation of speeches such as “The Ballot or the Bullet,” “Friends and Enemies,” and the treatment of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party led by activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Another audiotape contains a 1963 speech at The City College of New York.

NYPL's Digital Collections includes notes from one of Malcolm X’s most famous speeches “The Ballot or the Bullet.”

Did you know Malcolm X's parents, Earl and Louise Little, were members of Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association? When they lived in states such as Wisconsin and Nebraska, they founded chapters of the organization. Garvey also visited the Little family in Nebraska. Mrs. Little was pregnant with Malcolm (Little, later changed to X) at the time. The 2021 Pulitzer Prize winning-book, The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X, by Les Payne and Tamara Payne discusses the Little family's work with the UNIA and offers a comprehensive look at his life. JBH has a copy in their collection.

In addition to holding the collections of some of the leading figures in the African diaspora, the Schomburg Center's collections on hip-hop include filmmaker and Yo! MTV Raps host Fab 5 Freddy and the Hip-Hop Education Center. Its online archives contains conversations with Rakim, DMC (of Run-DMC), Timbaland, and more.

The Center also had a small role in hip-hop’s history. A portion of the music video for the 1988 song “Self-Destruction” was filmed in MARB.

In winter 2023, Chuck D screened excerpts of his four-part documentary series Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World at the Schomburg. The evening included a talk back alongside fellow producer Lorrie Boula, music journalist Nelson George, and Bill Gardner, PBS’s Vice President of Multiprogramming and Head of Development. The program is part of the Center’s archive on YouTube.

Killer Mike requested that his interview with Ebro Darden, journalist and co-host of Ebro in the Morning on radio’s Hot 97, be filmed at the Center for Apple Music in June. The discussion covered his new album Michael. During the conversation he expressed his admiration for the Center’s founder Arturo Schomburg and the work of the Center preserving materials documenting the history and accomplishments of Black people.

"He’s really the first person I learned about that showed me we still connected,” said Killer Mike.

“I want all Americans to come to the Schomburg,” he later said near the end of the interview. "This is as much a part of American history as it is part of just my (Black) history." (Full interview) Please note: YouTube has listed the interview as having explicit content. Viewer discretion is advised.