John McWhorter talked about his book, All about the Beat: Why Hip-Hop Can’t Save Black America, published by Gotham. In his book Mr. McWhorter argues that hip-hop and rap are counterproductive instruments within the African-American community and that the political and social contributions of hip-hop music have been overblown and that hip-hop should not be seen as a vehicle for political activism. He claims that rappers are too focused on relatively trivial issues facing the African-American community, like police brutality, yet ignore more important issues such as HIV/AIDS. Following his remarks Mr. McWhorter answered questions from members of the audience.