Frank Rudy Cooper Co-Edits Book on the Intersection of Hip-Hop Music and the Most Pressing Law and Policy Issues

Frank Rudy Cooper, William S. Boyd Professor of Law and Director, Program on Race, Gender & Policing, recently co-authored three books in his fields of expertise. In addition to Gender and Law: Theory, Doctrine, Commentary, Ninth Edition and Dis/ability in Media, Law and History, Frank joined a member of a writing group to coedit a third book.

In his large writing group, Professor Cooper was inspired by a recent article crafted by Wake Forest’s Gregory Parks referencing a Kendrick Lamar song. “This could be a whole book,” he said, and together they landed a leading publisher. Professors Cooper and Parks brought together an exciting group of authors, who used the songs as jumping-off points to talk about important issues, including policing and protest movements.

A collection of powerful writing, Fight the Power: Law and Policy through Hip-Hop Songs features entries by dynamic authors like Paul Butler and Catherine Smith. The latter crafted a piece with her daughter on sexism and the intersection of lesbian, Black, and Latin identity. “When I look at the book we edited,” shares Professor Cooper, “I think about the moments when I had interesting conversations with the individual authors and helped shape the book.” And with its crossover success, perhaps the book’s themes will continue to be prescriptive policy statements studied in Boyd Law’s Program on Race, Gender & Policing.