"They" Schools: On Embracing Hip-Hop Education

If someone were to ask me to sum up my relationship with hip-hop in one word, I'd probably respond with: tenuous. Growing up in a southern black household with a pious, conservative, and traditional mother my childhood CD collection was never one to contain much hip-hop. Classic albums like Lil' Kim's Hardcore or Nas' Illmatic were intentionally kept off of my radar. My mother with the best intentions kept hip-hop at a safe distance from me because she, like many black conservatives, feared the impact that hip-hop might have on her young and very impressionable black male child. And with all of the talk about drankin', smokin' and shootin' -- who could really blame her. In many ways I was indirectly taught that hip-hop had little value for me and was not the musical genre to embrace if I wanted to be successful.

Let me be very clear, much like my President, my views have evolved. Let me also be very clear: hip-hop is not without serious flaws. For all of it's misogyny, painful homophobia, and flashy embrace of capitalism- mainstream hip-hop has some serious growth to do. And already hundreds of articles and books have been written about the concerns we have about hip-hop (please feel free to visit your local Amazon bookstore). These critiques of hip-hop are numerous and valid, but that does not deprive hip-hop of value as an art form, a serious venue for social critique, or a powerful tool and resource for kids.

Chris Emdin, notably the leading scholar on hip-hop education and Columbia University faculty member, participated in a powerful TED Talk recently that really helped me frame and shape how I thought about how hip-hop can be used in the classroom. Feel free to watch the entire talk, but I think Emdin really hits his stride when he begins to break down the values of hip-hop itself as an art form and how all teachers can incorporate these values into their classroom and teaching. "When we think about hip-hop education we often think about just rap pedagogy. We don't think about emotion. We don't think about the fact that rap is but a thin slice of the culture," he speaks to the crowd. What I learned from Emdin and his book Urban Science Education for the Hip-Hop Generation is that if I'm going to embrace hip-hop education I have to do it authentically. Hip-hop at it's core is more than just rap, but a culture that embraces creativity, emotion, manipulation of technology (not just using technology), celebration, pain, and as Emdin says, "a knowledge of self". I've claimed the space of a hip-hop educator and therefore now must require of myself that all of these core elements of hip-hop are present in my classroom and in my own personal life.

For those interested in how to best incorporate the core principals of hip-hop into the classroom I'd highly suggest Emdin's book or this fantastic essay by fellow Columbia professor Lauren Leigh Kelly. I offer these words to think about as you begin this journey to become a hip-hop educator, "The effort to bring in a culture, if it's a superficial rendering of it, is problematic." Hip-Hop education is not me trying to rhyme or rap for my students because that's not authentic to me. Hip-Hop education is not playing your students' favorite song in the background while they fill in worksheets. Hip-Hop education demands you be culturally relevant at all times- and that's done by creating a culture in your classroom where ALL of the elements of hip-hop are present and active and authentic.

In my own personal journey, I've found hip-hop to be a place of healing for me. It expresses so honestly the experience of being a black man in America and for that space I'm grateful. For my kids, hip-hop is what defines how they experience the world from the music they listen to, to the language they use with each other, to the way they dress and express themselves. I'm compelled to be a hip-hop educator and I would implore you to join me on this journey.

(Addendum: If you don't know who Dead Prez is then... you should. Listen to their song "They Schools" and take the time to read the lyrics. It's a powerful critique of modern American education and highlights that the system we work in was not built for all kids. Enjoy.)



-Brandon Lewis
Twitter: @brandonspeak