Albany State hosts Hip-Hop Chess Icon, Adisa Banjoko

Adisa Banjoko visited Albany State University at the invitation of the school’s “University College,” an entity supporting first- and second-year students. Banjoki is known to the chess world as the founder of the Hip Hop Chess Federation (HHCF), an organization founded in 2007 with the idea of using chess, martial arts, and hip-hop as avenues to teach life skills.

Although not the first hip-hop chess organization, the HHCF was the first to fuse music, chess, and martial arts to promote nonviolent strategies for conflict resolution. Banjoko then formed “64 Blocks,” which focused more on the fusion of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and chess. These days, he is still teaching BJJ, but he is doing a podcast that brings all of his specialties together.

More recently, Banjoko visited ASU, one of the 107 Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) that provides Black students from around the world opportunities to learn in a self-fulfilling and nurturing environment. Most were founded after emancipation, but the oldest is Cheney University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1837. Albany State was founded in 1903.

The event at ASU introduced students to the strategic and analytical elements of chess to enhance their critical thinking skills through gameplay. These interactive workshops helped them engage in intellectual discourse while building relationships with their peers, faculty, and staff in a dynamic and inclusive environment.

In the first interview introducing the HHCF to the chess audience, Banjoko told The Chess Drum,

There are tons of kids who have never been introduced to chess and all of its beauty and power. But nobody is trying to do any real outreach. At the same time many of the chess programs that do exist are poorly funded- so its hard. The HHCF is trying to breakthrough all of that and unite young minds who need chess with those that already possess its wonder.

The HHCF held some iconic events, mostly in under-funded schools, but the most memorable would be their “Kings Invitational,” headlining some of the biggest names in hip-hop. He has also featured a couple of museum exhibits, including the  “Living Like Kings” at the World Chess Hall of Fame.

Adisa Banjoko’s Hip Hop Chess Federation
was the cover story of February 2012
U.S. Chess Life magazine.

Banjoko is on point at Harvard University

With RZA, one of the visionary founders of the Wu-Tang Clan,
at the St. Louis Chess Club during the opening of the
“Living Like Kings” exhibit.

This initiative carries importance because of the recent initiative of HBCU Chess and the launching of the annual HBCU Chess Classic in Atlanta. There have been events in 2023 and 2024 with a dozen HBCUs participating. Albany State is poised to participate as Atlanta is only a few hours north. Banjoko’s message was presented at Albany State’s East Campus and Sherwood Elementary.