Bellevue Community College’s Black Student Union will present an acclaimed hip-hop artist, an internationally-noted hip-hop scholar and a Washington state legislator with expertise in civic responsibility and social change, in a series of four free, public Black History Month lectures through Feb. 25.

Boots Riley, a well-known hip-hop leader and proponent of social change, will speak at BCC at 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 18, in Room N201.

Riley has been an integral part of the struggle for radical change through culture since age 15, beginning with grass-roots student organizing in California public schools. Co-founder of the award-winning political hip-hop group, “The Coup,” Riley is also a member of the Mau Mau Rhythm Collective, a group of artists and activists who use hip-hop to promote political change.

Eric Pettigrew, chairman of the Washington State House of Representatives’ Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee, will speak on civic responsibility and social change in a 9:30 a.m. presentation Feb. 19, in Room 120 of the C Building on BCC’s main campus.

Pettigrew’s history of public service in the Puget Sound area includes work with Child Protective Services, Seattle Emergency Management and the Seattle Mayor’s Office.

Dr. Tricia Rose, Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University and one of the world’s top scholars on hip-hop culture and politics, will speak at BCC at 3 p.m. Feb. 26 in Room 201 of BCC’s N Building.

on the morning of Feb. 25.

Rose is perhaps best known for her ground-breaking book on the emergence of hip-hop culture, Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America, which is considered a foundational text for hip-hop studies.