Hip Hop Culture in Education

I’m not up to date on my hip hop culture, so at first I was wondering why this article was important in our readings. While reading it and made many clear and precise points. Relationship building, promoting black history (a topic I am definitely under developed in), building culture in your classroom, are a few points that stuck out to me. Using hip hop as a tool in the classroom can promote social justice and youth activism in a variety of ways. Not only does encouraging and incorporating hip hop allow you to build a sense of connection with students interests, It gives a different view on how learning can occur. The words that are used in hip hop music tell a story and usually a story that isn’t being told in regular education classes. Incorporating hip hop education also connects you and the students with culture. In the article Critical Hip Hop Pedagogy as a Form of Liberatory Praxis we are introduced to “Critical Hip Hop Pedagogy (CHHP) that can respond to issues of racism and other axis of social difference that Black people/people of color face in urban and suburban schools and communities” (Akom p.54). Encouraging hip hop in your classroom as an educator can help students deal with racism, teach students about world issues that are happening (BLM Movement is a strong and prevalent issue occurring in our world currently), teach students about diversity, and promote advocacy and build relationship among students. Allowing this teaching can build justice-orientated students that promote and question the whys! Why is our school teaching about hidden histories and ignoring the histories of other races? We have and are starting to see the movement for change with “Black Lives Matter.” One of my professors this semester actually took part in the scholar strike to support and stand in solidary with the issues Black people are facing today with police brutality. Building students knowledge about Black histories and involving hip hop culture in your classroom also helps Black students relate to someone that is similar to them or their experiences. The relationship between hip hop culture and the development of critical consciousness amongst students is a form of “resiliency and resistance that can be developed to challenge the dominant mind set, increase academic engagement and achievement, and build new understandings of the strength and assets of youth of color and the communities from which they come” (Akom p. 57).