Lecture inspires

For many students the thought of a one-hour lecture might cause queasiness, frustration, fear or a number of other emotions. But for about 100 students who were still present and attentive in the Whittenberger Auditorium after more than two hours of listening to a speaker, the feeling was much different. \nWednesday evening Hip Hop Congress and Union Board co-sponsored a lecture titled "Why IU Students are America's Best Bet to Save Our Ass in the 21st Century" by William Upski Wimsatt. He talked openly about the turning points in his life, what he is doing now and the challenges he has faced.\nThe focus of the lecture was the importance of being involved. Wimsatt discussed hip-hop culture, grass roots organizing and social change.\nWimsatt, 29, grew up in Chicago and has faced many challenges that have shaped his life. He brought something different to IU. He warned audience members they might disagree with a lot of what he was going to say. But he also inspired them to take charge of their own education and do something about things for which they feel passionately.\nWhen Wimsatt was in his early teens, he became one of Chicago's most infamous graffiti artists, writing his name and painting scenes all over the Windy City, on walls and in subway stations and buses. He said he soon realized this method was not changing anything. When he was 16 years old he became a columnist for The Source magazine.\nSince then he has written two books -- "Bomb the Suburbs" and "No More Prisons" -- that have influenced many young people around the nation. He is also the co-founder of several organizations and the director of Adventure Philanthropy.\nPresident of IU's chapter of the Hip Hop Congress, sophomore Alex Fruchter, grew up in the same neighborhood as Wimsatt and was greatly influenced by him. \nAfter reading the book "No More Prisons," Fruchter contacted Wimsatt seeking guidance and inspiration. \n"Upski has influenced me because he did it all by himself," Fruchter said. "He (made) his book at a Kinko's. He had these visions, and he did them."\nWimsatt learned about public speaking on the train lines in Chicago as people would ask him what he was doing. He said listening to each other is a tool that has become overlooked in society today.\n"Everyone deserves to be listened to," Wimsatt said. "The fact that we don't get listened to, we don't feel understood, that we can't be ourselves and we don't get encouraged for who we are (causes us to) just shrivel."\nMzilikazi Koné, director of lectures for Union Board, said the turnout was greater than she expected. She was concerned the IMU would ask everyone to leave before everyone in the audience got a chance to be heard. \nA proud college dropout, Wimsatt's message to students is, "This is your window of opportunity to try things, to take risks. Anything you have wanted to do, do it now."\nWimsatt is also editing The Future 500, a forthcoming resource guide on youth activism. Two Bloomington organizations have been chosen from all of the youth activism groups in the United States, Hip Hop Congress and the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project.