Kendrick Lamar Duckworth

(June 17, 1987 - Present)

is a rapper and songwriter from Compton, California. His music features conscious, introspective lyrics with political criticism and social commentary concerning African American people and culture. He has been listed among the greatest rappers of all time. In 2018 he became the first musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Lamar has wone 27 Grammy Awards, 2 Primetime Emmy Awards, 5 American Music Awards, 7 Billboard Music Awards, 11 MTV Video Music Awards and 37 BET Hip Hop awards. He headlined the most watched Super Bowl halftime show in history and had the highest grossing co headlining tour of all time.

What does DNA Do?

DNA is the instruction manual that act like a code or recipe book tell ing cells how to build proteins, how to grow, how to develop, how to age.

DNA is passed down from biological parents to their children, determining inherited traits like eye color, height, blood type, and physical characteristics

DNA copies itself so that every new cell has a complete set of instructions

DNA is your fiber optic connection to your ancestors. Your entire family tree lives in you inside the code of your DNA>

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is the hereditary molecule that carries the genetic instructions for the development, growth, function and reproduction of all living things. DNA looks like a twisted ladder, a shape known as the double helix. The sides of the ladder are made of alternating sugar (deoxyribose) and phsophae groups. The Rungs of the ladder are base pairs, made up of four chemic bases paired together. Adenine pairs with Thymine. Cytosine pairs with Guanine. Most DNA is stored inside the nucelus of the cell, with a small amount found in the mitochondria.

Nina Simone

Nina Simone (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon, February 21, 1933 - April 21, 2003) was a legendary African American composer, concert pianist, singer, songwriter, and Black Activist. Revered as the “High Priestess of Soul”, her talent defied the constraints of any genre including jazz, classical, blues, folk, gospel, pop and soul music. She was a musical prodigy who began learning and playing piano at three years old. Simone was also considered the voice of the Civil Rights Movement with songs that challenged systemic racism and affirmed a powerful musical activism, especially in the service of Black people. One of her most famous songs released in 1969 was “To Be Young, Gifted and Black”, dedicated to her late friend Lorraine Hansberry. She was a close friend to many people in the Liberation struggle including Malcolm X, James Baldwin, and others.

“To Be Young Gifted and Black” is a deeply influential anthem. The title of the song is a quote from the legendary playwright Lorraine Hansberry who wrote “A Raisin in the Sun” and passed away at 34 years old. On May 1st 1964 Lorraine left her hospital bed to honor six teenage winners of a national creative writing contest. During her speech she said “I wanted to be able to come here and speak with you on this occasion because you are young, gifted, and black….I, for one, can think of no more dynamic combination that a person might be.”

Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19 1930 - January 12, 1965) was a pioneering African American Playwright, writer and Civil Rights Activist who transform the landscape of American theater. She was the first African American woman to have a play produced on Broadway with her masterpiece “A Raisin in the Sun" (1959). In her short life she wrote many seminal pieces and she was a fierce advocate for human rights. She worked as a writer and editor for Paul Robeson’s progressive newspaper, Freedom. She wrote about decolonization, white supremacy, women’s rights and Black identity. She was a close friend to James Baldwin.

Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka (Everett Leroi Jones, October 7 1934 - January 9 2014) was a highly influencial and prominent African American poet, playwright, essayist and political activist. Widely recognized as teh founder and “father” ofd the Black Arts Movement, in the 1960’s, Baraka’s career as an artist and activist spanned nearly 50 years shifting from Greenwich Village Beat Poetry to a revolutionary Black Nationalist and Marxist social critic. Amiri Baraka is a seminal poet and writer whose personal journey influenced generations of people who embraced black power, black pride and african ways of being. Baraka authored over 40 books, taught at several major academic institutions, and became a foundational cornerstone of American experimental theater, jazz poetry, and Black cultural consciousness.