Keynote Speakers
Ice-T
Rapper and Actor
Ice-T not only invented gangster rap, he has lived it. Ice-T is the original embodiment of LA Hip-Hop and a cultural icon. Through his music, his multiple books, and his lecture tours of America’s prisons, high schools, libraries, and colleges (including Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford), Ice-T has become a cultural icon and an influential spokesperson for America’s youth, regardless of color.
Born an only child in New Jersey, Ice learned the art of survival fast. Both of his parents passed before he was 11, resulting in him being shipped to Los Angeles to live with an alcoholic aunt. Ice struck out on his own at 16 and soon became involved in crime while navigating the LA gang scene, then joining the U.S. Army.
His first break in entertainment came when the producers of the film “Breakin’” asked him to rap in the movie. He went on to become rap music’s original gangster, writing songs like “Six in the Mornin” and “New Jack Hustler.”
Ice-T subsequently formed the thrash metal band Body Count with high school friend and guitarist Ernie C. Body Count’s 1991 self-titled debut contained the controversial single “Cop Killer.” In 2020, the Body Count album “Carnivore” won a Grammy for the song “Bum Rush.”
As his politics were grabbing headlines, Ice-T’s film and television career was taking off with roles in “New Jack City,” “Ricochet,” and “Johnny Mnemonic,” among others. In 2012, Ice’s directorial debut, “Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap,” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
For 24 seasons, Ice-T has starred in NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” as Detective Odafin Tutuola. “SVU” is the longest-running TV drama in television history, beginning its 25th season this fall. Ice also has a 5 minute daily podcast called Daily Game where he shares and discusses inspirational and profund quotes that have helped him through his life.
As an author, he has released five books, including Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption-from South Central to Hollywood (2011) and Split Decision (2022).
In February, Ice-T was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Dr. Rosa Rivera-McCutchen
Professor of Administration & Supervision, Hunter College - City University of New York
Dr. Rosa Rivera-McCutchen is a Professor of Administration & Supervision at CUNY Hunter College and a faculty member in the Urban Education Ph.D. Program at CUNY Graduate Center. An educator for over two decades, Dr. Rivera-McCutchen began her career as a high school teacher in the Bronx before earning her doctorate at New York University. She is the author of Radical Care: Leading for Justice in Urban Schools, which focuses on urban school leaders who center anti-racism and equity as part of their work. Dr. Rivera-McCutchen’s research has appeared in highly respected academic and practitioner journals, and she has been invited to speak to a diverse range of audiences across the United States. A first-generation college graduate, Dr. Rivera-McCutchen’s research, teaching, and activism are deeply informed by her experiences as a former student and educator in New York City public schools, as well as by the public school experiences of her three Afro-Latinx children.