Hip Hop Pedagogy

In the article Critical Hip Hop Pedagogy as a Form of Liberatory Praxis, we see how hip hop can be used as a tool to promote social justice and youth activism in the classroom. Commonly the term hip hop makes people think of rappers, gangsters, breakdancing – mainly something that you would not expect to be helpful or relevant in a classroom setting. However, seeing hip hop and rap as described in the article of being  “socially and politically conscious” we can see how the concept of its theory and practice work together to promote such issues for the students. Hip hop and rap “examines historical problems with black communities, such as racism, police brutality, crooked politicians, greed, poverty, and substandard education.” 

In other readings, as well as class discussions, we have understood how important it is to understand the role intersectionality plays, and other narratives and views as they may be silenced and or looked past. By using hip hop as a tool to examine and dive deep into the issues the culture represents and symbolizes, it allows for students to get another perspective and look into things that they previously have been oblivious to. Some of the methods of analyzing the article suggests for students to do is to look into a “diverse set of data: field notes, video footage, photo-voice, web research, artifacts of popular culture, interviews, archival research, oral history, and surveys.” These act as additional frameworks to help bring awareness to what the black culture experiences and the setbacks that they continue to face despite typically not being heard or recognized. 

A critical consciousness deals with a wide variety of understanding of the world through social and political aspects by also challenging injustices in people’s lives based on a variety of factors. Using the techniques and methods of hip hop, students are able to get a better understanding of the world as they are able to look into the different views and injustices that the culture faces through certain lenses. 

When students become aware of the issues that the black culture faces through methods of hip hop pedagogy used within the classroom, it encourages the students to stand up, fight for change, and challenge all the assumptions that have previously been made. Through this pedagogy students who were once unaware of the role hip hop plays now becomes more clear to how so many often forgotten factors can impact one’s lives. Being more educated and thinking more critically of the roles aspects play in people’s lives can help to develop a better understanding of the world around us.