Hip-hop Literature: The Politics, Poetics, and Power of Hip-hop
Hip-hop Literature: The Politics, Poetics, and Power of Hip-hop in the English Classroom
Laura Leigh Kelly (2013)
"I found myself taking on a dual identity: I was hip-hop outside the classroom and student inside it. There was no space for both at once. As well-versed as I could be in the language of hip-hop, that knowledge did not provide me with any source of power or access inside academic spaces. While I saw myself in hip-hop, I did not see myself in classroom texts" (Kelly, p. 52).
As we prepare ourselves to become teachers and educate students in our own classrooms, our discussions often seem to circle back to the same common theme-- culturally relevant pedagogy. Perhaps Hip-hop culture isn't one of the first things that come to mind, but Kelly argues that it should be. And I agree. Hip-hop has grown past the music industry and broke out into the "mainstream" to the point where you simply cannot call yourself a culturally relevant teacher without incorporating it into your instruction. Something that has become this embedded in students lives, particularly students of color, deserves a spot in the classroom. Asking them to leave this aspect of their culture at the door has damaging effects on how students of color come to see themselves in the education system, like in the quote above. Why should students bother learning about things that have no relevancy to their lives, let alone ask them to do this in a setting that doesn't seem to support or value them? We shouldn't be asking students to take on a dual identity-- rather, we should be encouraging them to bring the two together in the classroom, connecting their outside lives to their education while making them feel like an integral part of the school culture/community.
To expand on this conversation, take a look at this video where the speaker discusses culturally responsive pedagogy. To get you thinking about the potential benefits of looking at Hip-hop culture, particularly Hip-hop literature, skip to 4:15 in the video.
Hip-hop literature has an extremely powerful potential impact for a few reasons: cultural relevance, use of literary devices, studying language, and storytelling. As I touched on previously, including Hip-hop texts when studying literature allows for students of color to feel more included and engaged due to its real-life relevancy. Equally as important, acknowledging Hip-hop in an educational setting conveys to the students that their backgrounds and cultures are just as worthy of study as those students who have traditionally been supported in literature.
In terms of literary devices, students often struggle with many of the texts that are generally analyzed in the classroom due to the generational and cultural barrier. There is certainly a connection that exists between the poetry we commonly see in classrooms and rap music. While realizing the similarities, we cannot neglect to acknowledge rap as something innovative and independent from past works in history.
Hip-hop literature can also function as a way for students to study language, particularly slang and how it makes its way into the "mainstream".
Another important aspect that comes with studying Hip-hop is the strong presence of storytelling. Hip-hop literature often tells a story where the writer can express themselves and also make connections with those who have had similar experiences. For many students, the stories being told in the literature will heavily align with their own experiences, making it more meaningful and culturally relevant than most other texts.
There is, however, a common social critique that comes from implementing Hip-hop in the classroom. Rap is often seen in a negative light that depicts it as violent, misogynistic, and immoral. While the texts may need to be monitored according to age group, the benefit of analyzing these common themes should not be overlooked. Regardless of what we decide to teach or not teach, these influences are surrounding them. Instead of pretending they don't exist, I do think it is a part of an educator's job to equip students with the tools to look at these topics with a critical lens and question how they function in society. Just think about the real life impact this could have on students as they learn valuable skills in the classroom that could apply to how they view their world!
Reflecting on all of the potential benefits that come from using Hip-hop literature in the classroom, Kelly argues that it is strong enough to stand on its own. In other words, we should not bring rap into instruction only to compare it to traditional, canonical texts. Doing this degrades the Hip-hop texts and limits its potential impact to fight cultural inequality in the classroom by giving the impression that it doesn't deserve to stand alone and have its own place in the curriculum. The underlying message we are sending to students of color through this practice is detrimental.
After some time to reflect, I present to you some questions: Do you agree that Hip-hop literature could have powerful impacts on students of color? If you were a teacher who didn't feel knowledgeable of Hip-hop culture, what could you do to to learn more? Lastly, I have a question that I have wrestled with during this analysis. Do you think there are benefits to studying some traditional, canonical texts even though there is a huge generational and culture gap?
These are just some of the questions to consider when thinking about Hip-hop in the classroom. Perhaps this is just the beginning of a possible total transformation of way we study literature in schools-- a transformation that is necessary to support all students.
Wow! This was honestly such a great post. I think you really hit the nail on the head here, especially when you talk about how Hip- Hop literature can be so beneficial to students, especially urban education students. Kelly makes a really great point in her aricle that you don't necessarily have to cut out old literature, but just incorporate new concepts along with it. Combining the old literature with new hip hop literature makes it more engaging as well as more appealing to your students. However, to answer your question, I do not think it is necessary to read old canonical text. BUT, if you are going to teach it, I think changing it up and making it more relevant to the afrocentric culture and to the diversity of your students is necessary, like Kelly states. But I personally could not stand Romeo and Juliet. I thought it was boring, and there was no point to it. Same with "Of Mice and Men". These stories have no tie to our students culture and they are not teaching our students anything, we read them because its what we've always read. There is some literature that has to be taught, but I think the main point that Kelly makes is that we have the ability to alter it and make it relevant and we also have ways to teach poetry without reading traditional poetry, Hip-hop is poetry and so to use that to our students advantage is key.
ReplyDeleteMerannda, I really appreciate what you had to say about incorporating old literature with new concepts. I think this allows students to see the different faces of our world through literacy. I also think being able to make literature culturally relevant is a must because students of color need to see their worth. White people need to see more perspectives they can learn from as well. If education continues to teach Eurocentrically, than students of color will continue to believe they are not capable of success. Students of color need to have an opportunity to show what they know. I am not fond of hip-hop but I am willing to incorporate it in my curriculum to show my students they matter to me and they matter to others. As Lauren Leigh Kelly said, "For students to truly engage in learning, they must be able to see a space for themselves within it" (p.52). Hip-hop can create a positive learning atmosphere for my students to see themselves grow and for me to learn and grow with them.
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DeleteYes Merannda! I agree 100% there is something to canon literature that makes it still very useful at any period in time but adding new , modern literature is key! Getting that contrast is SO important
DeleteMerannda, I really enjoyed what you had to say about Hunter's post, and the article. I think what you had to say about still incorporating the old literature practices to the more relevant. I do think it can be done, but adding a twist to the older practices. Not comparing, but I still think going over briefly the old literature. Like I said in my post, what if students fall in love with the old literature and find something they really enjoy. Like you, I personally did not, but it is almost apart of history that I think needs to be shown. I think overall making sure you stick to the more relevant literature is most important, because I think it would make the students feel as if what they are doing is fun and relevant to what they see outside of school, but still learning.
DeleteMerannda,
DeleteFrom reading your post, I think we had similar experiences with literature in school in terms of how boring it felt to read pieces like "Romeo and Juliet" or "Of Mice and Men". I think the generational and cultural gap is so huge with these pieces that the disconnect feels automatic. I like how you put an emphasis on putting spin on canonical texts to make it more relevant to our students, and I think we can certainly find a way to do so. We don't have to completely remove these texts from literature, we simply have to change our approach. With that being said, I think it speaks volumes for the future of literature in the classroom that these conversations are being had between future educators. We have an opportunity to really change how literature has traditionally been taught in schools!
Hunter,
ReplyDeleteYour post really engaged me to think about the ways literature and hip-hop literature affect the lives of our students and our classrooms. To answer your question, I think that hip-hop literature already affects our students greatly outside of the classroom, and to ignore that essence of their lives by disregarding its study in our classroom would be doing our students a disservice. By using the relevant texts of hip-hop in our class, we can create opportunities for our students to analyze, understand, and criticize texts that are relevant to their culture and lives. I think these texts are also very important to our students because hip-hop literature frequently addresses social inequities in our society that our students may be able to better understand through a familiar avenue and connect to experiences they may (or may not) have also endured. By developing critical skills while studying hip-hop, students are enabled to look at their music outside of school walls with the same skills, and maybe even things going on in their own communities. As for teaching the traditional texts, I don’t think it is necessary at al since our literature should reflect the culture and respond to the needs of our students lives. But when it is required, I believe that it is important to take these texts off of their pedestal, and allow students opportunities to infuse current, more relevant literature and cross-examine them. Without other texts and references being made to literature such as hip-hop, we are reinforcing a white dominant culture that is misrepresentative of our students.
A question I have is what other genres of music, literature, and study can we examine and infuse into our teaching to provide our students access to a more diverse and representative curriculum?
Kristen,
DeleteThank you for your feedback! It is clear from your response that you really captured and understood the point that the author was trying to make. I found it to be very interesting that you said you don't think traditional, canonical texts are necessary to teach to our students because it does not reflect the culture. I, too, have struggled to see the importance of teaching these pieces. I still question if there truly is a purpose. Maybe consider that, in spite of the huge generational and cultural gap, there may be some similarities that could be drawn from the text in terms of the feelings, emotions, and thought processes in these canonical texts to students current lives. It may be a stretch, but I do think it could potentially be relevant in one way or another. I like how you said that traditional texts need to be taken off their pedestal either way, because I agree that this emphasis does work to reinforce the white dominant culture represented in many of these texts.
You presented a powerful question that deserves discussion because I don't think there so many possibilities when considering all of the different genres of music we could examine and infuse into the curriculum. I think music in general is such a important aspect of culture that often reflects the society we live in. Because of this, most music, regardless of the genre, could have powerful implications in the classroom due to its relevancy to student lives. With that being said, I do think that Hip-hop/Rap music deserves to be highlighted because it represents a culture that has endured years and years of silencing and discrimination in terms of their absence in our schools.
Hunter I really enjoyed your post because it made me think about a couple things. With all due respect to the makers, writers, singers, and listeners of hip-hop. First, I have found myself not enjoying hip-hop as much as I once had and sometimes wonder why the change. My thinking is I am older and my interests have changed. Another thought is when I think of hip-hop I think of negative lyrics and women being treated like property and butts shaking all over the place. I know there is more to hip-hop than my thinking and I know not all hip-hop is negative, I haven't found a way around what's stuck in my head and this may be because I can relate (not to the butts shaking). My life when I was younger was negative and many of the lyrics could tell my story. That is not something I want to listen to. My other thought, this may sound awful too, I do not remember a time where any of my teachers ever used any kind of music in their curriculum so why is hip-hop important to be mixed into learning. I also realized music listened to by white people, alternative, metal, country, classical, jazz, to name a few possibly were not in the curriculum because the curriculum was already geared towards white people so music of the majority did not need to be added to make literature relevant. I wanted to share a little of my thinking and that's really all it is. I appreciate the opportunity to learn about cultures and music, I just have not been exposed to hip-hop music in a positive way.
ReplyDeleteAs for your questions, I absolutely think hip-hop literature would have a huge impact on students of color because it allows students to see how strong words are in the lyrics. I am that teacher who does not feel knowledgeable about hip-hop because I struggle listening to it. I think because my students of color are important to me I would ask my students to bring in their favorite song. The student who brings the song in can briefly share why they enjoy the song or how it relates to them and as a class we could talk about what's being said. If the song is negative, we could figure out the meaning behind it and discuss correct thinking. If the song is positive, we could remind each other the importance of seeing the good. Your third question, I enjoyed Romeo and Juliet but I think I did only because my teacher brought in West Side Story to compare it to. West Side Story was still before my time but it helped me understand what was taking place in terms I could relate to.
There is a quote on page 52, "For students to truly engage in learning, they must be able to see a space for themselves within it." Do you think students of color would receive the same lesson with hip-hop literature if they did not listen to this genre because they did not relate or enjoy it? I am having trouble believing there is certain types of music for certain people. I think music can be cultural but should not be racial.
Hunter-
ReplyDeleteI agree that Hip-Hop Literature should have a place in the classroom. Students learn when they are engaged. We cannot expect them to want to learn about stories written by old white men in positions of power when they cannot connect the themes to their own lives. I think by bringing in hip-hop, you are allowing your students to see that you respect them for who they are and also teaching them to use the critical lens to evaluate and analyze all communities including their own. The best way to learn more about hip-hop would be to listen to it with a critical lens and an open mind. I don't think you would be fully capable to integrate anything into your lesson if you do not at least know what it is and have an appreciation for it. I am not saying that you must LOVE hip-hop in order to integrate it. I am simply saying you must listen to it and appreciate the way that it is conveying a message. You do not even have to accept or like the message. It is like from the "Is Everyone Really Equal?" book. We do not have to understand or accept knowledge to open our minds to the idea that what is being discussed is of significance.
Your last question is really interesting. I do think that there is importance to discussion around what many people consider the "classic" text sin literature. I think that they are important to evaluate with a critical lens as well. Some stories that are considered beautiful stories are problematic for the women, children, people of color, etc in them. Just look at many of the original classic tales like Cinderella, the Little Mermaid, etc. The women are put in positions to where they are basically enslaved by the idea of being with a man. Putting all of ones value on if a man loves you or not. Overall, I think it is important to choose texts, regardless of genre, with an understanding of the values and the problems that will arise. Your job is to choose the texts and open discussion to both positives and negatives.
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DeleteMelissa,
DeleteThank you for your response. I really liked that you grasped the important concept that, even if you don't personally like some hip-hop, we need to open our minds and realize its significance. I do believe that we are doing our students a disservice by ignoring something that plays such an important part in their lives, even if it doesn't in our own. That is part of our jobs as educators-- how can we truly call ourselves culturally relevant if we don't put the interests/experiences of the students front and center in our classroom? At the end of the day, we are teaching for our students. Their learning experience is our first priority, and we need to put their needs first! The cultural relevance that Hip-hop literature brings to the classroom could benefit the child in more ways than one.
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI liked the point you made about actually listening to hip-hop if we are going to use it in our curriculum base for our classrooms. I thought about this concept as I was reading for the week. I realized that I had little to no exposure of past or current hip-hop literature. I ended up downloading a couple of playlists on Spotify to get myself into the genre, which I have been enjoying. I think it is important to address our implicit biases towards things we do not understand or know, and then work to understand them. I've found that my little exposure to the content of hip-hop combined with negative messages about hip-hop from my past environment resulted in me not being able to enjoy much of hip until my college years. This week's reading opened my perspective up to how we can better transform our curriculum to be more engaging and culturally sustaining in the lives of our students. I'm wondering if you could "hack" the canonical texts you mentioned like the book "Pose, Wobble, Flow" discussed by not only looking at the traditional texts alone, but also by cross-analyzing them with hip-hop literature examples that may address similar social issues from alternative perspectives, and how that differs based on your student's positionally?
Hunter , thank you for putting together such a thoughtful post. I’ll admit it is difficult for me to read through articles such as this and shift my mind out of the ways in which I was taught. As a student I remember just knowing that we had to read certain books and learning to love with it whether I thought it taught me something or it didn’t. Coming into this new generation it is almost impossible to ignore the cultural shift that is happening with our children. They are learning much sooner to be individuals and to have specific tastes which I think is amazing. We have to look beyond what we think is “best” for them as teachers and try to escape our own lense. This children are surrounded by the hip hop culture , a lot of them adore and look up to those people they can relate to and what better way to ensure their learning and engagement then to repair the them enough to bring it into their learning. Kids deserve educators who take the time to prepare what’s best for them , not what’s easiest to get done in hopes that it tecahes something. Relevant curriculum lasts on the minds of children , they take it with them through the rest of their educational journey.
ReplyDeleteHunter, I really, really enjoyed this post! I think this article was so intriguing along with your post. This entire article is the perfect example of what culturally sustaining is. Noticing what the students are interested in, and integrating that into the education throughout. I learned a lot reading this article, while keeping me interested, and asking questions. I often wondered, what if some of the students do not particularly like rap/ hip hop music? I thought to myself, yes this might be true, but even if they do not prefer this type of music it is still a part of their culture, and society. It is something they can engage with and relate to, because they see it outside of school. I think anything that is apart or society, and outside of the school walls can be integrated into education. Doing this will keep them engaged, because it is real life situations. I like how the article said, "Whether the power in its messages can be used for good or ill, few can dispute the impact of Hip-hop culture on the lives of working class urban youth". (Kelly, p. 89). Basically that whether it is for good or bad, it still is impactful and relevant because of how it can be relate able.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was great that you brought up when Kelly talked about it being powerful enough to stand on its own. I think that is crucial to think about, because if comparing it, it is conveying that message. It is conveying that message to the students who relate to these messages. It is conveying that message about their culture. I think the questions you asked at the end were awesome. The one that really made me think was, "Do you think there are benefits to studying some traditional, canonical texts even though there is a huge generational and culture gap?". Honestly I do. This somewhat goes back to my question of, what if not all students enjoy rap/hip-hop music? What if there are a few students who if taught the traditional way fell in love with it? I feel like just teaching one way is almost robbing them of what else is out there. I focusing the unit or lesson on rap/hip-hop would be the best idea, I think learning about the other versions of literacy are important as well.
Yes Allison! I agree about making things more relevant to what they see in their everyday lives. I also wanted to add that I think teaching hip hop lit opens up a perspective for all people. Some people don't listen to rap music, so I think it is important to "expand their horizon" and just get them to listen to all forms of music. For people who only grow up listening to Spanish music or country music, they don't understand rap music and the movement behind it. I think this lesson could be modified to even do it with all forms of music, making students listen to genres they don't usually listen to. It helps everyone get a cultural understanding of each other that way.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more. If you look at a country song, because I am a big country person, like right now, I'm listening to Tennessee whisky by Chris Stapleton. the very first verse says, "your as smooth as Tennessee whisky." right there is a simile. If you go on... "You're as sweet as strawberry wine You're as warm as a glass of brandy And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time" right there is two more similes' and a metaphor. depending on the different home cultures that you have, you can open this up to so many different things. However, I think it is important like Kelly says, "The absence of hip-hop literacy in education does not only harm minority students. It also deprives white students of the opportunity to learn about others." With this being said, I think its important to cover the culture of the classroom, but also the culture of others as well which could be unfamiliar territory, but that's what gets us comfortable to real life conversations.
DeleteYes Merannda and Ashley! All music should be incorporated in a lesson like this because some of your students might not necessarily like rap music or country music. They may become uninterested if you were not to include a music genre that they are into. Great way of modifying the lesson Merannda. The article talks about using your culturally responsive pedagogy and making sure your incorporating all cultures into your classroom. Music is a huge part of culture and a student might check out if you are not including their favorite music genre and just one. I am not saying rap isn't important, but we need to be including all genres to keep that pedagogy.
DeleteAshely, I really like your son choice, because I just heard that song a few days ago. But, like Amber said that it become uninteresting and that is a first war lost. In my classes we did not have music. In high school, I got the chance to freely listen to music. Because, I did not have any way to listen to it freely on anything. I started to listen to music when I needed something to help get my mind awake and moving. I want to include other music in my class. I want to introduce them tradition music like native American, German, Japanese, Chinese, and so many others. This will hopefully inspire them to look at other outlooks on life. That not everything has to be one side. I really want to include clean rap, because it talks about issues that they may face. For an example is Eminem, has some political issues and social issues in his music. But I want it to be clean and well verse with issues that are going on around us. But something I want to learn more is when to play it and how to introduce it to lessons and how to without it being pushed. It is easy to read about, but not knowing how to do it in class is the hard part. I want my future students to get the best learning.
DeleteI really like how this discussion evolved to consider other genres of music that could also be incorporated in the classroom! I especially appreciated the idea of presenting music from all different cultures around the globe. Because a lot of music tends to reflect society, all genres have the potential to take culturally relevant pedagogy to the next level in a way that traditional literature hasn't before. With that being said, I do want to reiterate something I said in another comment. I think it is important to highlight Hip-hop/rap literature in the classroom because it has given a voice to a culture that has been excluded from our curriculum since schooling began. While there is certainly no racial or ethnic group that will always like one music genre and dislike another, hip-hop culture has been particularly relevant and powerful to people of color and their experiences in society. While I agree that we should incorporate other genres, this aspect of Hip-hop specifically shouldn't be overlooked.
DeleteHunter,
DeleteI have read through a lot of our post and I have to say the discussion with this topic really hit it off. But, the best thing about singing or music, is that it can be used with any subject. There are hundreds of math and science songs that I heard in school. Plus, after exploring more on my own, I discovered stuff with History, English, and even lunch. I think that with this, it opens up so many possibilities that even the students will be amazed with how their life style and cultural backgrounds are always present, but not pushing into other as well.
Hunter, I'm glad you blogged about this article as it's my favorite article we've read this week! To respond to a few of your questions, I'll first post them here. Do I agree that Hip-hop literature could have powerful impacts on students of color? YES. Hip-hop literature incorporates students home lives with their school lives, something that is not done often. It also gives people a voice that they often did not have in the past. Most hip-hop artists are minorities and use rap/hip-hop to share a story, or give themselves a voice. Students of color could see this as an opportunity to get their own voices heard as well as look at their own musical tastes and critique them from a literary point-of-view. If I were a teacher who didn't feel knowledgeable of Hip-hop culture, what could you do to to learn more? Personally, I am very involved in hip-hop/rap culture but simply researching songs/lyrics can help teachers become more informed. I would also (depending on the demographics of my students and their musical tastes) ask my students what genres of music they prefer, and use this in literature. I remember in my elementary years one of my teachers took a popular pop song and we analyzed the lyrics. This was something that totally caught my attention and had me looking at relevant things in my life from an educational point-of-view. Lastly, do I think there are benefits to studying some traditional, canonical texts even though there is a huge generational and culture gap? I'm somewhat torn on this question. I do agree that texts such as these can seem very boring and not relevant (I can say this from personal experience) but I do think it's how you see things. If you take canonical texts and think of ways you can relate what's happening to the students' lives it would be a lot more beneficial. Letting the students know they can relate to things even when they can't see it at first would make learning more engaging and fun. Overall, I'm a huge fan of hip-hop literature and can't wait to use it in my classroom. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHunter,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your take on hip-hop literature. Throughout this week's materials, I have been drawn to this article as well. To put it generally speaking, educators have the responsibility of "bridging the gap" that may exists in our classroom with us and our students. This can be done many ways, such as incorporation and critically analyzing hip-hop literature. To answer your question, I do agree that hip-hop literature can (and does have) positive, powerful impacts on students of color. According to Carol D. Lee, " minority students tend to disengage from school practices because 'they fell that they are not respected in classrooms, that the content of instruction does not serve the goals that are most immediate to them, or because they do no understand the subject matter as they experience it in classroom'" (Kelly, 2013, p. 53). Hip-hop literature gives students of color the opportunity to learn and critically engage with material, while also increasing their "ability to connect globally" (Kelly, 2013, p. 53). One might also argue that hip-hop literature is not significant for White students. However, it provides White students the opportunity to learn about others as well. According to Lauren Leigh Kelly, "Students of color spend a great deal of time learning about the language, history and culture of white America, but white students are rarely introduced to the language, history, and culture of the minority populations that also reside in the United States" (Kelly, 2013, p. 53). This aspect of literature education and experiences is problematic, and it is one more reason for the incorporation of hip-hop in the literacy classroom.
Emma,
DeleteI could not agree more with what you have said, however, I know that I grew up with a family who is very conservative. Listening to hip hop was not necessary "bad" to some of them, but to others it was. To some of them, it was just frowned upon. My question is, Do you think if you are teaching this to a group of white students who may not connect with the culture, if their parents who frowned upon this and have said something to you explaining how they disagree with the content.. how would you react? Would you teach It anyway. I understand that it is important like Kelly says, "The absence of hip-hop literacy in education does not only harm minority students. It also deprives white students of the opportunity to learn about others." I completely agree, but also I know that there are some parents who won't and I don't know how I would respond to that.
Great points! I completely agree that we as teachers need to incorporate hip-hop into our curriculum. If we're in a classroom with students of color, it will be important for culturally relevant pedagogy. We should still incorporate hip-hop when there aren't many POC in our class, because it's important for non-POC students to understand the cultural relevance of HH/rap. I think it would be especially relevant in discussions about poetry, music, and social justice. Though, it could be incorporated into many different lessons. For example, students could choose to make a song or rap about science or math concepts we're covering.
ReplyDeleteI think it's also important to not assume that students of color are fans of HH and/or rap. My closest friend, Nahimana, who is a POC, doesn't really consume hip-hop or rap, and prefers to listen to Kpop, Jpop, future bass, and electronic music. I think it would be helpful to have individual or class discussions about students' music and other interests, before jumping into discussions about hip-hop with students of color/assuming we know their interests.
"Whether the power in its messages can be used for good or ill, few can dispute the impact of Hip-hop culture on the lives of working class urban youth" (Kelly, page 89). This means that whether it is a positive or negative impact, our students will likely be impacted somehow by hip-hop/rap culture. It's important for us as teachers to be able to make meaningful connections between HH/rap culture and academics.
I really enjoyed your blog post Hunter. I completely agree with you when it comes to rap music being viewed in a negative way. However, a lot of rap music can be viewed as degrading towards numerous groups of people. I do think it would be beneficial to have rap music be present in the classroom to students of color, but also white students. Rap music is something that is not just a person of color interest, so I feel like if it is introduced into the classroom then some students that felt ignored, may not become engaged. As for a teacher who doesn’t have a lot of hip-hop cultural exposure, I think the best thing you could do is ask questions of those who are knowledgeable of hip-hop, maybe even go as far as attending a concert to immerse yourself in the culture. I do believe that it’s still important to provide canonical texts even though there is a generational gap. I think it can really show students how poetry and literature can come in multiple forms, and how literature and poetry have changed overtime.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Devanie, hip-hop has become more explicit and people seemed to misjudge the genre of music. Sometimes people see hip-hop in the wrong way and they might have heard the hip-hop songs that are the way Hunter said "violent, misogynistic, and immoral." I agree with your point about every student can benefit from hip-hop literature as well as white students. I believe hip-hop literature can be opened for everyone and I think teachers should not block anyone from learning it. I agree that teachers should take an effort to learn everything about hip-hop. For example, teachers can attend a hip-hop concert or watch a documentary about it. Teachers should make an effort in learning the cultures of the majority of students. Lastly, I also think teachers should still incorporate canonical texts into the lessons, so students can see the variety types of poetry.
DeleteI learned so much from this article. It was compelling and persuasive. The points that the author made can not be argued as it is important hip-hop literature is a subject that should be covered in every literature class. Students of color receive an identity when they participate in the activities of hip-hop literature. Hip-hop literature represents cultural relevant pedagogy as it helps students gain a role in the classroom and they become more aware of the culture being represented. I believe that this subject can help students become more confident in their work, voice, and academic skills. Hip-hop is a big part of American culture and many students are surrounded by hip-hop. So including hip-hop into literature does not seem like a bad idea. I agree with your statement that students need to feel valued. When teachers connect students' personal culture to their school's culture, students will feel more engaged to what they are learning and then become more empowered. As for your first question, hip-hop literature has powerful impacts on students of color as the assignments gives them a chance to reveal their true identity. Students will get a chance to share their stories to others and they will learn so much from someone else's culture. Creating raps that depicts the lives of students is good opportunity for teachers to know how they live. Teachers can see what might make students struggle personally if there is problem in a student's life. Teachers who are not knowledgeable about hip-hop, they can research by reading articles, listening to hip-hop, read the history of hip-hop and etc. I think it is possible for teachers to incorporate hip-hop into literature. It might not be perfect, but teachers can learn along the way. Lastly, learning from traditional texts should be limited because the majority of schools and society are becoming more diverse. Learning will be more effective if traditional texts were not mostly covered in lessons.
ReplyDeleteHunter,
ReplyDeleteThis article was very good read. It made me think more about what the students think about what they might get out of this lesson. There was a line in the article that I thought was very interesting and want to share, "By providing students with ways in which to engage their cultural interests in an academic setting, we are giving them the opportunity to embrace their individuality while also pursuing academic success." We need to be incorporating what music genres our students like. I am not saying rap/hip hop music is not important, but their are some students who might not get anything from a rap song because they simply don't enjoy it. Your students will be successful if you let them be them. Growing up I sometimes thought I was unique, I thought I was an outcast who was just like everyone else. But I know it was because I was focusing on what others were telling me and not who I think of myself. I just really liked that quote and really related to it. I also related to this quote as well, because I have struggled with believing in myself and not listening the negative people. "For students to truly engage in learning, they must be able to see a space for themselves with it." If a student is not seeing themselves in your lesson somewhere they will not be interested. Great Job Hunter!!