Damon Sajnani, better known by his stage name Professor D or ProfessorD.us is a Canadian rapper and assistant professor based in the United States. He is the lead vocalist of

The Dope Poet Society The Dope Poet Society is a hip hop group from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Their music is characterized by clever and sometimes controversial lyrics. ProfessorD.us (formerly Professor D) is the lead vocalist of the group. The group has been active ...

and professor of African Cultural Studies at the

University of Wisconsin - Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

where he teaches courses on Hip Hop and Politics in Africa and around the world. He was the inaugural

Nasir Jones Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

Hip Hop Fellow at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 2014-15. He is known for rapping about social issues and global politics with sophisticated rhyme structures and "tongue twisting flows." Marcyliena Morgan, Executive Director of Harvard's Hiphop Archive, says Professor D's work "represents the innovations and creativity of hiphop at its best." Professor D has released several critically acclaimed albums and published numerous scholarly articles. In December 2016, Wisconsin legislators Stephen Nass and Dave Murphy asked the University of Wisconsin to fire Sajnani and cancel his course titled The Problem of Whiteness which the legislators maintain is "adding to the polarization of the races in the state", and which they believe is premised on the idea that white people are racist. The course description states that "whiteness studies considers how race is experienced by white people. It explores how they consciously and unconsciously perpetuate institutional racism and how this not only devastates communities of color but also perpetuates the oppression of most white folks along the lines of class and gender. In this class, we will ask what an ethical white identity entails, what it means to be #woke, and consider the journal Race Traitor’s motto, “treason to whiteness is loyalty to humanity.""

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Professor D, ProfessorD.us Living people University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Musicians from Toronto 21st-century Canadian rappers Year of birth missing (living people)