Expertise

Africology, African American Studies, Law, Legal Studies, Hip-Hop, Black Culture

Biography

Timothy Welbeck is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University. A Civil Rights Attorney by training, Timothy is a scholar of law, race, and cultural studies. He earned his J.D. from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law and his B.A. from Morehouse College.

Timothy's scholarly work focuses on contemporary issues of racial identity in America, the intersection of racial classifications and the law in the American context, contemporary African and African American cultural transmissions, retentions, expressions and evolutions, hip-hop as a microcosm of the Black experience, etc.  Timothy's forthcoming book “No City for Young Men: Hip-Hop and the Narrative of Marginalization,” explores how hip-hop communicates the lived experience of persons who live in urban centers across the nation, particularly Black men living in major cities. Timothy has also written several peer-reviewed journal articles including “Specter of Reform: The late Sen. Arlen Specter’s Criminal Justice Reform, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and its Role in Expanding the Modern Prison Industrial Complex,” explores the impact of the infamous 1994 Crime Bill in providing the infrastructure for mass incarceration within the United States. The research, funded by the Arlen Specter Center fellowship, examines how the federalization of criminal law, pursuant to the Commerce Clause, has led to expansive growth in federal law enforcement, imprisonment, and thus setting the foundation for the modern carceral state. Timothy's article “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths to Rhythms: Hip-Hop’s Continuation of the Enduring Tradition of African and African-American Rhetorical Forms and Tropes,” examines hip-hop’s continuation of centuries-old African cultural norms and aesthetic values. It also adopted an Africological approach to provide a foundation for establishing hip-hop’s African origins and its manifestation of African cultural transmissions. 

Timothy's work has appeared in various media outlets, such as the BBC Radio 4, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, NPR, The Huffington Post, The North Star, REVOLT TV, et al.

Website

Selected Publications

  • “Specter of Reform: Understanding the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and it’s Role in Expanding the Modern Prison Industrial Complex” (pending publication)
  • “No City for Young Men: Hip-Hop and the Narrative of Marginalization.” Cognella Academic Publishing (Under Contract)
  • “The Gospel According to ‘Ye: Kanye West, The Life of Pablo, and Authentic Christianity,” In You Gon’ Learn Today: Aesthetics of Christian Hip-Hop. Routledge Taylor and Francis
  • “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths to Rhythms: Hip-Hop’s Continuation of the Enduring Tradition of African and African-American Rhetorical Forms and Tropes,” In Straight Outta English special edition of Changing English (CEN) Routledge Taylor and Francis
  • “An Epidemic Akin Unto Lynching Pt. 2” The Huffington Post
  • “An Epidemic Akin Unto Lynching Pt. 1” The Huffington Post
  • “All Eyes on Us: Meek Mill’s Legal Troubles, Hip-Hop, and the Narrative of Black Criminality” The Huffington Post
  • “A Sickness Unto Death: Affluenza, Tamir Rice, and the Erasure of Black Childhood” The Huffington Post

Courses Taught

  • "Hip-Hop and Black Culture"
  • “No City for Young Men: Hip-Hop and the Narrative of Marginalization,”
  • "Race and the Law"
  • "Constitutional Law"
  • "American Government"
  • "The African-American Experience"
  • “Red and Blue America: Political Subcultures in the US”
  • "Mass Media and the Black Community"

Media Mentions