James G. White A.K.A. "Ghetto Priest"
The Reverend Dr. James G. White was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1962. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with honors, attended graduate school at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and was conferred the degree of Dr. of Divinity by the Trinity Theological Seminary.
Dr. White is a former Hip Hop Music recording artist, producer, and musician. Signed in the fall of 1990, as Ghetto Priest, he is recognized as the Godfather of the Midwest Movement in Hip Hop, and was the first Hip Hop artist to hold a concert in South Africa after the release of Nelson Mandella from prison. In the fall of 1990, Dr. White joined the national program planning team for the "Self Destruction: Stop The Violence in Hip Hop Movement" where he proposed the first touring national Hip Hop Summits to promote dialogue between the Civil Rights Establishment and the Hip Hop Community. He also became a co-founder of NU-LITES, the National Urban League Incentives To Excel and Succeed. NU-LITES is a model national youth leadership development program. As "Ghetto Priest", Dr. White also served as the executive producer and host of "Slave Uprising", a weekly radio talk show and lead newspaper column for Courier Communications.
In 1994, Dr. White co-founded Faith Partners, the National Interfaith Alliance Against Substance Abuse. Faith Partners, an initiative of the Johnson Institute Foundation is the featured program of the Johnson Institute's Rush Recovery Center. With a national magazine "Faith Partners Journal" and offices in Austin, TX, Minneapolis, MN, and Washington, DC. Faith Partners trains congregational teams for substance abuse recovery support.
In the spring of 1996, Dr. White was elected to his first four year term on the County Board of Supervisors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is serving his third term on the Board, and has served as 1st Vice Chairman of the Board. He currently serves as the Chairman of General Mitchell International Airport, the Milwaukee County Transit System, and the Milwaukee County Highway Commission.
Dr. White is founder and chairman of the Encompass Project. Encompass recruits and places talented students of color and female students into pre engineering activities, paid internship And Co-op positions,and assists them with their efforts to enroll in and succeed in engineering degree programs at the undergraduate level. He serves on the board of directors of the Milwaukee Regional Science and Engineering Fair (MRSEF), and serves on the advisory board of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Engineering School's Office of Diversity.
In the spring of 2004, Dr. White served as the keynote speaker for the Dialogue International Interfaith Conference on World Peace in Istanbul, Turkey. He is widely respected for his efforts to promote dialogue and shared global responsibility among the Abrahamic faith traditions (Christians, Muslims, and Jews).
Dr. White currently serves as the Senior Legal and Business Analyst for Lanier Law offices in Milwaukee, WI, and Washington DC.
He serves as Chief Operations Officer for Clergy Strategic Alliances LLC, a Washington DC based social justice and human rights outreach training firm working with, progressive organizations, and the historically black Christian denominations.
Dr. White also serves as Co-Chairman of the Hip Hop Congress National Advisory Board. HHC is a national leadership initiative for high school and college students who are ACTIVE in and who identify with Hip Hop music, culture, and politics. HHC is based in San Jose, CA, and has 28 national affiliate chapters. Dr. White also serves as a mentor and advisor to the National Hip Hop Political Convention.