April 10, 2008, Atlanta, GA- Atlanta based author, educator, and counselor Ed Garnes joined educators and music/tv industry executives from allhiphop.com, National Academy of Recording Arts Scienes(NARAS), Radio One, CW Network, BET, and XXL Magazine for the national college tour Break Into The Music Conference at North Carolina Central University on April 9, 2008. One of the most influential college tours to date, the conference’s goal is to promote the importance of a college education by offering a full day of creative, interactive insights and experiences with representatives from all fields of the entertainment and media industries.

Garnes, founder of From Afros to Shelltoes, a community based organization focused on using art and education as tools of activism, moderated a discussion on the relevance of W.E.B. Dubois’s (revered educator, sociologist, and co-founder of the NAACP) concept of “The Talented 10^th.” The theory espoused by Dubois emphasized the necessity for higher education to develop the leadership capacity among the most able 10 percent of black Americans.

Garnes’ panel featured a who’s who educators and executives including Kim Cooper (BET), Dr. Mark Anthony Neal ( Duke University professor and acclaimed author of New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity ), Yahzarah (recording artist and voting member of NARAS), Sakiya Sandifer (co-author with Grammy Award Winning Artist Kanye West on “Thank You and You’re Welcome”) and hip hop legend Christopher “Play” Martin from the group Kid -N-Play.

For Martin, Artist in Residence at North Carolina Central University, Garnes participation was fully engaging. “If what Ed Garnes has done in regards to our NCCU Hip Hop Summit panel discussions and social events (for impact) is an appetizer or minute representation of From Afros to Shelltoes, I don’t know if I am ready for a full plate of what this service/ministry provides.”

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