He’s called Mr. Brown, Coach Brown, “Professor”, Rod B. and aka “Rich Black” and is the Founder of the Hip Hop Literacy Project and a past organizer of the Hip Hop Summer Camp with the Grand Rapids Hip Hop Coalition. Over the years, Mr. Brown has coordinated many activities and events within the schools, classrooms and community that are grounded in Hip Hop culture and also organizes diverse engagements across demographics and communities. Mr. Brown is an avid adherent to the principles of Hip Hop culture (Peace, Love, Unity, Safely Having Fun and Knowledge) and recognizes the power in the history and lineages of Hip Hop and believes strongly that, “We do a disservice to young people when we do not intentionally introduce them to the origins, history, icons of Hip Hop and the purpose and authentic practices embedded within Hip Hop culture.” 

Mr. Brown is an Educator, Community Organizer, Social Entrepreneur and Political Scientist with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with Emphasis in Ethnic Studies Concentration on African American Culture from Santa Clara University, a private, Jesuit college in the Silicon Valley of California. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Education from Davenport University. 

Mr. Brown was born, bred and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan a place affectionately called “Grand Rap”, “G-Rap”, “The Grand” and “616” and believes that, “Talent from Grand Rapids has always influenced aspects of the music and entertainment industry and Grand Rapids has bred incredible talent, and in Hip Hop particularly, our Grand Rapids neighborhoods (whether they’ve been heard or not) has some of the best lyricists, beat-makers and cultural influencers of anyplace, anywhere in the World.”

As an Educator, Mr. Brown, started his career as an Emergency Substitute-Permanent Teacher Placement in 1993 with the East Palo Alto School District in California, teaching Math & Science to 7th grade students. The movie Dangerous Minds was based on this school district. This teaching experience impacted Brown to return home to Grand Rapids to “make a difference in my community”. Upon the return home, Mr. Brown spent 7 years as an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Grand Rapids Community College and has spent the past 15 years as an Administrator with the Grand Rapids Public Schools. Mr. Brown currently leads the Grand Rapids Learning Center, a dynamic alternative high school located on the GRCC campus, a partnership-school between GRPS and GRCC.

For nearly 30 years (multi era and multi issue organizing), Mr. Brown has been a thought leader, educator, community advocate, non-profit executive, board member and an organizational consultant and he was also a past political candidate for local office. “I ran for political office twice, in 1997 and in 1998 and certainly when I started community organizing in 1994, it was very rewarding for me to get the Hip Hop community and the younger generation involved in the process. Because I was in my 20’s as for my age, this was an important target demographic of peers and also the next generation coming behind me, so to get so many people from the Hip Hop community involved (for their first time) in the political process and where I even inspired some to add their voices into the community development space, this was important to me.”

Mr. Brown also volunteers his time to help individuals and organizations “build their capacities to serve the community” and he coaches individuals in sharing their voices on community and neighborhood issues and consults organizations in capacity-building and professional development activities. Mr. Brown himself is a strong voice for the importance of Neighborhood Associations and Black community-agency in community organizing. Brown is a passionate advocate for inclusive economic development practices and access and opportunity for diverse voices to be activated and heard in the community development and political process of making community.

Mr. Brown shares a core belief that he learned as a youth from Elder Carl Edward Smith and that is, “Those that have the power to define have the power to determine.” Brown believes that this quote represents the essence of Hip Hop, and is a foundational principle in community organizing, political thought and is critical to understand, “Our language, actions and the iconography we use sets the tone, tempo and tenor for our community, our classrooms and for organizational culture overall. What others see, hear and feel in our shared spaces, each of us bare some responsibility. Who is most responsible in this space? Is it the DJ or the MC? The teacher or the student? The politician or the citizen? Ultimately, each individual needs to understand and value the “flow” in a cypher or in a session, in their business or in the community and certainly in the classroom. Everyone actively engaging in creating the rhythm for the work taking place in any space is always important.”