Mark Naison, Ph.D., professor of African and African-American studies, a.k.a. the Notorious Ph.D., drops a rhyme on April 12 at “Dr. N’s Second Annual Rhythm and Blues Review and Rockin’ Dance Party,” a fund raiser to benefit the Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP).
The event also featured the Satin Dolls, Fordham’s first and only all-female a cappella group, and the Bronx River Rats, which featured vocalist and harmonica player John Hollwitz, Ph.D., professor of management systems in the Graduate School of Business Administration, and bassist Brennan O’Donnell, dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill.
The event raised more than $700 to support BAAHP, which is headed by the African and African-American studies department. The project aims to reconstruct a more accurate picture of life in the borough during one of the most tumultuous eras in American history. Among the subjects being studied are African immigration, jazz music and hip-hop in the Bronx from the 1930s to 1960s.
