written by DJ 2Tone Jones

From its inception, hip-hop culture has always been about taking what you have and creating what you want from it, leading to connections between things that seemingly don’t belong together. We heard it when Bambaataa rocked parties playing punk, funk, and rock records. We saw it when Herc rode proudly through the South Bronx with his oversized speakers blasting new sounds as if to notify the heavens that he had arrived. Neither man was content with just rocking a party; rather, each wanted to rock an entire neighborhood. Innovation has taken many forms and has been led by many crews and organizations throughout hip-hop’s history. From the Zulu Nation to the Hip-Hop Congress, organizations have played a pivotal role in promoting innovation.

One of the best examples of such an innovation is Bum Rush the Boards, the world’s first hip-hop chess tournament, created and hosted by Words Beats & Life. The WBL staff and Board saw the logical connection between chess and hip-hop, considering that hip-hop, as a culture, is highly competitive. It is replete with opportunities to battle and competes in order to win over crowds, crews, and sponsors. From the development of the Bum Rush mixtape, featuring original tracks from local artists about the art of chess, to the innovative chess games being played in the Remix Room, the WBL staff has created an event that blends the best of both hip-hop and chess.

Bum Rush the Boards lifts up changemakers from throughout history by posting information at the event for the youth in attendance. Every Bum Rush the Boards participant is encouraged to learn more about how these “strategic strugglers” helped impact and shape the world they live in today. These individuals represent no single racial, ethnic, national or religious group. They span the whole of human history and serve as sources of inspiration to a new generation of future leaders, thinkers, and doers. 

This Bum Rush the Boards article represents our effort to not only tell people about the work we are doing but ideally inspire readers to never look at chess or hip-hop the same way again. This article was written by our resident chess coach, Lester “DJ 2-Tone Jones” Wallace. Lester has loved both hip-hop and chess since he was a child. As an adult, he is able to bring two of his greatest passions together under one umbrella: Bum Rush the Boards. It is our hope that this article, and those that follow it, will inspire other arts and culture-based organizations around the country (and, hopefully, the world) to develop chess programs, prompting youth to see the connections between strategy and the arts. 

WBL recognizes that these skills are not just useful in both chess and hip-hop, but in business and life, too. Planning for your future and developing the craft you love are as linked as we can imagine two things to be. By connecting hip-hop to chess in a way that resonates with the youth and adults who attend, Bum Rush the Boards exposes youth to a culture (hip-hop) and a set of strategies (chess) that requires them to think ahead, manage their talent and size up their adversaries.

Clyde’s Sacrifice

In the 1950s, segregation had a stronghold throughout the South. However, many supporters of the Civil Rights Movement made advances to weaken the opposing force. One of the lesser-known heroes of that movement was Clyde Kennard, a Korean War veteran, and farmer from Mississippi. On three separate occasions, Kennard attempted to become the first African American enrolled at Mississippi Southern College. He was so determined to succeed that he turned down offers from the governor and the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission to pay for his tuition at any in-state institution where he could gain acceptance. Unfortunately, efforts by his opponents to end his quest of breaking the color barrier came to a climax in 1959 when he was falsely accused of reckless driving. In 1960, he was wrongfully arrested on an accomplice to a theft charge for which he was sentenced to seven years in prison. After three years of incarceration, Kennard was released for medical reasons and died shortly thereafter. 

In the game of chess, sacrifices occur when players intentionally put one of their pieces in harm’s way to being captured in order to gain better positioning and/or advance another one of their pieces. In the case of Clyde Kennard, although he never gained acceptance into Mississippi Southern College, his tireless efforts and sacrifice laid the groundwork for an African-American student population that now numbers more than 2,000. There is now a student services building on campus named in his honor.