BRINGING HIP HOP INTO THE CLASSROOM

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BRINGING HIP HOP INTO THE CLASSROOM

• Why Literacy Through Hip Hop Works

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Nappy-Headed Hos
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Defining Hip-Hop

• Original Elements Emceeing, Deejaying,
  B-boying, Graffiti
• Speaks to a decidedly black lower-to-middle class
  North American worldview
• Distinguishing it from Rap
• Hip-Hop as culture
• Rap as a musical expression of the culture
• KRS-One Rap is done. Hip-hop is lived

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Creation Stories
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Creation Story 2

• Proposed by hip-hop journalist Jeff Chang
• DJ Kool Herc
• 1) The Jamaican Socialist Movement (1960s-70s)
• 2) The Gangs of New York (1950s-70s)
• 3) The Block Party

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The Jamaican Socialist Movement (1960s-70s) Part I

• Conservative Jamaican Labour Party (led by
  Minister of Comm. Development and Welfare Edward
  Seaga) vs. the Black Nationalism of Rastafari
• Back-o-Wall ghettos becomes Tivoli Gardens,
  controlled by the Phoenix gang
• Ban on all Black Nationalist literature and icons
  by the JLP
• Michael Manley and the Peoples National Party
  position themselves in support of Rastafari
  (Better Must Come by Delroy Wilson)

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The Jamaican Socialist Movement (1960s-70s) Part
II

• PNP win in 1972
• The Socialist Experiment begins
• Violence sparks 1976 State of Emergency
• Smile Jamaica (1976)
• Music as healing One Love Peace Concert (1978)
  and dub

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The Gangs of New York Part I (1950s-70s)

• Cross-Bronx Expressway and Urban renewal
  projects
• -Politics of race, space and class
• The growth of ghettos in the Bronx
• The rise of gang culture
• -the murder of Cornell Black Benjie Benjamin

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The Gangs of New York(1950s-70s) Part II

• Peace Treaty
• -Benjamin Yellow Benji Melendez and Carlos
  Karate Charlie Suarez
• Public and Private meetings
• Police crackdown
• The Block Party

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The Block Party

• The Block Parties and the breakdown of
  territoriality
• DJ Kool Hercs techniques
• Hip-Hop Crews

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Significance of the Creation Story

• Hip-Hop influenced by various cultures
• Music, culture and politics as inter-relational
• Socio-economic and political struggles informed
  the foundation of hip-hop

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LTHH as Political

• è       History acknowledged the dominance of
  Eurocentrism in traditional schoolingd inclusion
• è         Mandate we actively use hip hop as a
  means of reaching youthparticularly those in
  priority neighbourhoods
• è          Approach we seek to put at the
  centre the interests and experiences of Othered
  students, in order to promote equitable access to
  literacy

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Activity

• Explain to the students that they will be given a
  rap song and that they will apply the knowledge
  that they learned before the break.
• Circle and label as many poetic elements as they
  can in the song that they have been given.
• Tell the students that they will be working in
  teams. There will be a prize at the end.
• Hand out 1 copy of the lyrics for each team.
• Give them 15 minutes to complete the task.

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Summary

• Stereotypes and imagery are influenced by
  mainstream interests (eg. corporatism)
• The social, economic and political factors that
  influence hip-hops creation
• Necessity of our roles as educators and mentors
  in acknowledging its attractiveness to youth and
  in using this grassroots foundation of the
  history to channel young people towards positive
  transformation