Bryon Turman was born in Statesville, NC, and is a double honor’s graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCA&TSU) with a BA in English and an MA in English and African-American Literature. He has taught English as a Second Language at Guilford Technical Community College and high school language arts at L.I.F.T. Academy, a Charter school located in Winston-Salem, NC. L.I.F.T. serves at-risk students who were sentenced to long term suspension or expulsion from the Winston-Salem Forsyth County School District. Hip Hop was/is the soundtrack of their lives, so Mr. Turman used the “science of hip hop” to instruct his students. Since August 2006, Mr. Turman has been teaching two Hip Hop-related courses in the English Department at NCA&TSU and is a Lecturer of Humanities, Composition and Hip Hop in the English Department at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC.
Over the years, Bryon Turman has spoken at community and academic events around the country on topics of Hip Hop and education, graffiti and Hip Hop study at HBCUs. Mr. Turman has written major articles and interviews for several magazines and websites and he and his work have been featured in several types of media. Mr. Turman is a self-avowed hip hop head and educator who is dedicated and determined to insure that African American trials and tribulations, productivity, and creativity are included within the ivory towers of academia. 