Bavu Blakes is a Scholar Emcee deliberately walking through the intersection of Hip Hop, education, and spirituality. He is an educator of educators, a servant–leader, and an award-winning musician whose studio collaborators include Grammy winners Adrian Quesada, Symbolyc One, and Gary Clark, Jr., as well as people’s champ Paul Wall. Blakes’ research goals center the various ways that the Hip Hop generation leverages its resources for today’s generation. Blakes spent much of the past three years researching how weekly student-driven school assemblies affect the culture and climate of his middle school learning community. As a practicioner, Mr. Blakes is a curriculum and instruction specialist whose facilitation of teaching and learning via writing, reading, listening, and speaking extends beyond classrooms to school and community assemblies, concert venues, workshops and events serving youth, men, teens, and families, as well as faith communities. Accordingly, Austin mayor Steve Adler proclaimed April 23, 2015, as Bavu Blakes Day to a capacity crowd at City Hall.

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