Professor X

Born Lumumba Carson in Brooklyn in 1956, Professor X was the son of Civil Rights pioneer Sonny Carson. During childhood he met Malcolm X and regularly joined his father at political rallies both domestically and overseas. As a teenager he slipped into gang life, enduring shootings, stabbings, and imprisonment, then rededicated himself to politics by pledging to weave his father’s principles into hip-hop. He first worked in the music business promoting acts such as Whodini and later adopted the name Professor X after the X-Men’s visionary leader.

In 1988 he joined Grand Verbalizer Funkin' Lesson "Brother J" (Jason Hunter), the Rhythm Provider "Sugar Shaft" (Anthony Hardin), and Grand Architect "Paradise" (Claude Grey) to establish the Brooklyn-based X-Clan. Wearing medallions and traditional Black Nationalist clothing, the collective sought to educate and uplift listeners of every race and creed. As the group’s sage, Professor X repeatedly voiced his signature line “Vainglorious! This is protected by the red, the black, and the green with a key, sissy!” on tracks from the 1990 debut LP To the East, Blackwards, which rose just short of the R&B Top Ten. The 1992 follow-up Xodus charted similarly, while in the intervening years he issued the solo album Years of the 9, On the Blackhand Side. After X-Clan disbanded he released Puss 'n Boots (The Struggle Continues...) in 1993.

With gangsta rap’s ascent pushing conscious hip-hop to the commercial sidelines, Professor X redirected his efforts toward established activism, co-founding the Black Muslim organization Blackwatch. Amid rumors of an X-Clan reunion, he died of spinal meningitis complications on March 17, 2006.