Gwendolyn D. Pough, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, professor of women's and gender studies and Dean's Professor of the Humanities, was honored in October at a national symposium celebrating the 21st anniversary of her groundbreaking book Check It While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere.

The virtual symposium, "Crafting the Irresistible: Creative-Critical Literacies and Communities," took place October 20-21 and was hosted by the Community Literacies Collaboratory at the University of Arkansas. The event explored the intersection of creative and critical practices in literacy, scholarship, activism and community work, drawing inspiration from Toni Cade Bambara's declaration: "The job of the writer is to make revolution irresistible."

Pough's 2004 book filled a crucial gap in hip hop scholarship by centering the contributions and experiences of Black women in a cultural movement that had been largely documented without their voices. The work examines how influential women rappers such as Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim built on the legacy of earlier generations of Black women activists to disrupt patriarchal public discourse.

"I wrote Check It While I Wreck It because I had been seeing a bunch of books that had come out on hip hop and a lot of films that were coming out about hip hop at the time that really did not address women in hip hop in any way," Pough says.

Watch a tribute video to Pough’s book here.

The symposium featured a keynote conversation between Pough and Regina N. Bradley, associate professor of English and African diaspora studies at Kennesaw State University. Their discussion, "Hip Hop and Black Feminist Creative-Critical Practices: On the Page, In the Classroom, and In the World," explored how both scholars integrate hip hop culture and aesthetics with creative storytelling in their work.

Colleagues and former students participating in the symposium praised Pough's approach to mentorship and leadership, emphasizing her commitment to service over status. "I see leadership as service," Pough says. "As a mentor, I really see mentoring as a way of paying it forward. If I can help somebody, then my living won't have been in vain or won't be in vain."

Pough currently serves as president of the Rhetoric Society of America and is past chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication. She has co-edited several special journal issues and anthologies, including Home Girls Make Some Noise: A Hip-Hop Feminism Anthology and the forthcoming Hip Hop and Queer Black Feminism, which will be published in 2026.

The symposium examined themes including community literacy, storytelling for change, imaginative pedagogies and cultural literacies. The event also featured keynote conversations with filmmaker and artist Tourmaline and poet Danez Smith, along with film screenings, poetry readings, meditation sessions, panels and workshops.