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Dipset member Jim Jones will be among the celebrities and activists speaking at Howard University’s Third Annual Hip-Hop and Higher Education Symposium on March 27.

The Harlem rapper will be joined by Washington Redskin Clinton Portis, R&B singer Lyfe Jennings, TV personality Melyssa Ford and HIV/AIDS activist Maria Davis during the “HIV/AIDS and the Hip-Hop Generation” symposium.

Dr. Benjamin Chavis, CEO of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) and H2O Enterprises, will deliver the keynote address.

The symposium will educate students about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), women in particular.

“The purpose of this year’s symposium is to raise awareness about the staggering rates of HIV/AIDS infection in young African American males and particularly, in African-American women, who are members of the Hip-Hop generation,” Joshua Kondwani Wright MA, chair of the symposium. “It will also impart helpful knowledge, for those living with the disease, to lead a healthy life.”

A study released last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that at least 1 in 4 teenaged girls in the United States has an STD.

A town hall meeting will take place to discuss the rising rates of a number of diseases in addition to dialogue about HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, HIV/AIDS and the Black Church, and HIV/AIDS and Black women.

The Third Annual Hip-Hop and Higher Education Symposium takes place from 12-5 PM on March 27 at the Blackburn Center Ballroom.

The conference is sponsored by Howard University’s Afro-American Studies Department and the University Student Health Center.