“Real World” star to present steps for appreciating diversity

Mohammed Bilal, best known as the “even-tempered, dreadlocked rapper guy” on MTV’s “Real World III: San Francisco” will present his 12 steps toward appreciating diversity at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30 in the Bazarsky Lecture Hall. His appearance is sponsored by the Campus Activities Board’s spotlight committee.

Have you ever been misunderstood due to cultural differences? Have you ever longed for everyday, logical, concrete steps for communicating and forming strong, lasting friendships with people from different genders, ethnicities, abilities and sexualities? Bilal’s interactive presentation is sprinkled with scholarship, hip-hop and self-reflective narratives designed to equip the audience with easy, valuable and powerful tools for appreciating the diversity around us.

Bilal is a diversity consultant, musician, poet and writer who educates audiences about some of today’s greatest social problems. He holds a master’s degree in diversity studies and has spent 14 years creating innovative ways to educate people about diversity, AIDS and HIV prevention, drug and alcohol abuse, and responsibility.

Midnight Voices, the live instrumentation hip-hop band Bilal started in 1990, has toured worldwide and won numerous awards. He has collaborated and/or performed with such luminaries as Santana, The Ohio Players, Michele Shocked, Public Enemy, Ben Harper, De La Soul, Goapele, Martin Luther and Primus.