1. Promoting Academic Literacy with Urban Youth through Engaging Hip-Hop Culture
Author(s): Ernest Morrell and Jeffrey M. R. Duncan-Andrade
Source: The English Journal, Vol. 91, No. 6 (Jul., 2002), pp. 88-92
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
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2. PromotingAcadem Literacy
with Urban Youth through
Hip-hop Culture
Engaging
ERNEST MORRELL AND JEFFREY M. R. DUNCAN-ANDRADE
of forecasts during nextdecade, number
Statistics
he Digest Education that, the the
of ethnic minorityteacherswill shrinkto 5 percent, while the enrollmentof ethnic mi-
noritychildrenin America'sschools will grow to 41 percent. As classroomsacrossthe
countrybecome increasinglydiverse, determininghow to connect in significantways
acrossmultiple lines of difference maybe the greatestchallenge facingteachers today.Teach-
ers in new century schools must meet this challenge and find ways to forge meaningfulrela-
tionships with students who come from different worlds, while also helping these students
needed be-
academic andtheskills
develop skills to Baker,Farley,and Georgeall arguethatthe
come criticalcitizensin a multiculturaldemocracy. creativepeoplewho aretalkingaboutyouthculture
This challengealso presentsa tremendousoppor- in a waythatmakessensehappento be rappers, and
tunity forprogressive, educators wishto
critical who the youth are respondingin manyways. Hip-hop
promotecurricula pedagogies valueandaf- artists
and that sold morethan81 millionCDs, tapes,andal-
firm the culturalpracticesof urbanstudents and bumsin 1998,morethananyothergenreof music.
membersof urbancommunities. AlthoughHip-hop got its start in black America.
As Englishteachersat an urbanhigh school more than 70 percent of albumsare purchasedby
in northernCalifornia, witnessedthe impactof
we whites. Takingtheir cue from the music industry
are
Hip-hop music and cultureon all of our students. other majorcorporations creatingadvertising
We sawat the same time thatits influenceseemed campaigns that caterto the "Hip-hopgeneration.'
to transcend race,as studentsfroma varietyof eth- Even mainstreamHollywood,with films such as
nic backgrounds were stronglyinfluenced by the Warren Beatty's Bulworth, dealingwithissuesre-
is
culture(Mahiri). the sametime,through
At looking latedto Hip-hop.Although musicis largely
the crit-
atthe literacypracticesassociatedwithengagement icized by politicians,religious groups, and some
(Bartonand Hamilton7-15), we also saw that stu- women'sgroups,its proponents claimthatit is here
dentsin thisnon-mainstream practice(Fer- to stay,as it representsa resistantvoice of urban
cultural
dman 181-204) were exhibitingthe critical and youth throughits articulation problemsthatthis
of
analyticalskillsthatwe wantedthemto bringto aca- generationand allAmericans face on a dailybasis.
demic textsfromthe canon.We ultimately decided RoseandPowellarguestrongly Hip-hot that
thatwe could utilizeHip-hopmusicandcultureto music is the representative voice of urbanyouth
forgea commonandcriticaldiscourse wascen-
that since the genrewas createdby and for them. Pow
tereduponthe livesof the students, transcended ell states:
yet
the racialdivideandallowedus to tapinto students' [Rap]emerged from the streets of inner-city
lives in ways that promotedacademicliteracyand neighborhoodsas a genuine reflection of the
criticalconsciousness. hopes, concerns, and aspirationsof urbanBlack
W JULY 2002

3. youthin this,the lastquarter the 20thcentury.
of velopment.It is possibleto performfeminist,Marx-
Rap a
is essentially homemade, musi-
street-level ist, structuralist, or
on
psychoanalytic, postmodernist
calgenre... Raplyrics concentrateprimarily
American
African critiques of particular Hip-hop texts,the genre as a
the contemporary experience
... Every issue within the Black communityis sub- whole, or subgenressuch as "gangsta" As Lee
rap.
ject to exposition the raparena. raptunes
in Hit points out, once learned,these analyticand inter-
havebroached touchysubjectssuchas sex,sexism, pretative toolsdevelopedthrough engagement with
racism, crime... Rapartists, contend,
and they popular culturaltexts can be appliedto canonical
"don't thatlovestuff,but [rather]
talk educatethe texts as well. If one goal of criticaleducatorsis to
listeners."(245)
empowerurbanstudentsto analyze complex literary
considerthemselvesaseducators and texts, Hip-hopcan be used as a bridgelinkingthe
Manyrappers
see at least a portionof their missionas promoting seeminglyvast span between the streets and the
worldof academics.Hip-hoptexts,giventheirthe-
consciousness within their communities (Lipsitz
matic nature, can be equally valuable as spring-
23-48, Rose 277-91). As articulated Freire,the
by boardsfor criticaldiscussionsaboutcontemporary
raisingof criticalconsciousness people who have
in
issuesfacingurbanyouth.Provocative textscan
been oppressedis a firststep in helpingthem to ob- rap
be broughtinto the classroom, discussiontop-
and
tain criticalliteracyand,ultimately,liberation from
ics maybe producedfroma listening/reading the of
oppressive The influenceof rapas a voice
ideologies. text.These discussions leadto morethoughtful
may
of resistanceand liberationfor urbanyouth prolif-
analyses, into
whichcouldtranslate expository writ-
erates through such artists as LaurynHill, Pras,
ing,the production poetictexts,or a commitment
of
WyclefJeanof the Refugee Camp,PublicEnemy, to social action for community empowerment.
Nas, and Mos Def, who endeavorto bringan accu-
rateyet criticaldepictionof the urbansituation ato
Hip-hopgeneration.
Giroux(27-28, 31) takes a much less cele-
Whether the power in its messages
bratoryview of the impact of Hip-hop culture on
working-class urbanyouthbut,nevertheless, agrees
that it is a worthytopic of study in urbanschools. can be used for good or ill,
His work addresses the crisis confrontingyouth,
whom he labels a generationunder siege, where few can dispute the impact
theyareenmeshedin a cultureof violencecodedby
race and class. He speaksto the negativeconnota- of Hip-hop culture on the lives
tions of youth culturepromotedin popularmedia
thatpropelyouthtoward mistrust,
alienation,misog-
and the developmentof fugi- of working class urban youth.
yny,violence,apathy,
tive cultures. This same media, he contends, has
commercialized workingclassbody and crimi-
the
nalizedblackyouth. Criticaleducators,he argues, TeachingHip-hopas a musicandcultureof
must considerelements of popularculturesuch as resistancecan facilitatethe developmentof critical
Hip-hopmusicas a serioussite forsocialknowledge in
consciousness urbanyouth.Analyzing critical
the
to be discussed, interrogated, and critiqued. socialcommentary producedby the RefugeeCamp,
Whether the power in its messages can be used for Public Enemy,or Nas may lead to consciousness-
good or ill, few can dispute the impact of Hip-hop raisingdiscussions, essays,andresearch projectsat-
culture on the lives of working class urban youth. tempting to locate an explanationfor the current
We further argue that Hip-hop texts are lit- stateof affairs urbanyoungsters. knowledge
for The
erary texts and can be used to scaffold literaryterms reflectedin these lyricscouldengenderdiscussions
and concepts and ultimately foster literary inter- of esteem, power,place, andpurposeor encourage
pretations. Hip-hop texts are rich in imagery and studentsto furthertheir own knowledgeof urban
metaphor and can be used to teach irony, tone, dic- sociologyand politics. In this way,Hip-hop music
tion, and point of view. Also, Hip-hop texts can be should standon its own merit in the academyand
analyzed for theme, motif, plot, and character de- be a worthysubjectof studyin its own rightrather
EInGLISH
journaLi

4. than necessarily leading to something more "ac- the Puritan Revolution, and the Romantics, which
ceptable" like a Shakespeare text. It can, however, were part of the district-mandated curriculum for
serve as a bridge between urban cultures and the twelfth grade English and which they would be ex-
literary canon. pected to have knowledge of for the Advanced
Given the social, cultural, and academic rel- Placement exam and college English. It was also im-
evance of Hip-hop music and culture, we designed portant to learn about the poets in the context of the
a classroom unit with three objectives: literary and historical periods in which they wrote
to gain a greater understanding of the role poetry
1. to utilize our students' involvement with
plays as a critique of its contemporary society.
Hip-hop culture to scaffold the critical and In addition to a critical exposure to the liter-
analytical skills that they already possess
2. to provide students with the awareness and ary canon, we felt it important to concentrate on the
confidence they need to transfer these development of issues and ideas presented in poetry
skills into/onto the literary texts from and song as a vehicle to expository writing. Our ob-
the canon jectives were as follows:
3. to enable students to critique the messages * to develop oral and written debate skills
sent to them through the popular cultural * to facilitate the ability to work in groups
media that permeate their everyday lives * to help students to deliver formal public
The unit was designed to incorporate Hip- presentations
* to teach students how to critique a
hop music into a "traditional" senior English poetry
unit. Our desires were to increase motivation and poem/song in a critical essay
* to help students develop note-taking skills
participation in discussions and assignments and to
teach critical essay writing and literary terminology in lectures and presentations
in the context of, among other types of poetry, rap * to help students become comfortable writ-
music. We also wanted to situate Hip-hop histori- ing in different poetic forms such as the
sonnet, elegy, and ballad
cally and socially and discuss its inception as a re-
sponse to urban post-industrialism. Further, we We began the unit with an overview of po-
wished to encourage youth to view elements of pop- etry in general, attempting to redefine poetry and
ular culture through a critical lens and to critique the role of the poet in society. We emphasized the
messages sent to them through popular media, as importance of understanding the historical period
well as to help students understand the intellectual in which a poem was written to come to a deeper in-
integrity,literarymerit, and social critique contained terpretation of the poem. In the introductory lec-
within elements of their own youth culture. ture, we outlined all of the historical/literaryperiods
that would be covered in the unit (Elizabethan, Pu-
ritan Revolution, Romantic and Metaphysical Poets
from England, Civil War, Harlem Renaissance,
The second major portion Civil Rights Movement, and Post-Industrial Rev-
olution in the United States). It was our intention
of the unit involved a group to place Hip-hop music-as a post-industrial art
form-right alongside these other historical peri-
ods and poems so that the students would be able
presentation of a canonical poem to use a period and genre of poetry they were fa-
miliar with as a lens with which to examine the
along with a Hip-hop text. other literary works and also to encourage the stu-
dents to reevaluate the manner in which they view
elements of their popular culture.
Several goals and objectives for this unit The second major portion of the unit in-
combined our simultaneous agendas of tapping into volved a group presentation of a canonical poem
popular culture and facilitating academic and criti- along with a Hip-hop text. The groups were com-
cal literacy development. To accomplish this, we missioned to prepare a justifiable interpretation of
needed to cover the poetry of the Elizabethan Age, their texts, situating each within its specific histori-
JULY 2002

5. cal andliterary period,whilealsoanalyzing link- song. They were also required to submit a tran-
the
ages between the two. Therewere eight groupsfor scriptionof the song.
this portionwho were, aftera week of preparation, The unitwasconsistent the original
with goals
and
each given a day to present to the class and have of beingculturally socially relevant, ex-
critically
theirarguments critiqued by theirpeers.The groups posingstudentsto the literary canon,andfacilitating
were assignedas follows: of
the development college-levelexpository writing.
The positioning of Hip-hop as a genre of poetry
Group Poem Song written largely in response to post-industrialism
was a concept to which the studentswere able to
1 "Kubla Khan," "IfI Ruledthe
Nas
relate.The issues ofjoblessness,poverty,rage,and
Coleridge World,"
alienation hadresonanceto the urbanyouthcul-
all
2 "Love Songof J.Alfred "TheMessage," ture of whichthe studentswere all a part.The fore-
Prufrock,"Eliot Grand Master Flash
3 "Don'tBelievethe fronting of Hip-hop as a genre of poetry also
"OMe!O Life!", to facilitatethe transition understanding
to
Whitman Hype, Public Enemy helped
Is
World a
the role individual poets mayhave playedin their
4 "Immigrants Our
in "The
own societies.
OwnLand," Baca Ghetto, GetoBoys
The studentswere ableto generatesome ex-
5 "Sonnet 29," "AffirmativeAction," cellent
Shakespeare Nas interpretations well as make interesting
as
linkages between the canonicalpoems and the rap
6 "TheCanonization," "Manifest," Refugee
Donne
texts.For instance,one grouparticulated both
that
Camp
GrandMasterFlash and T.S. Eliot gazed out into
7 "Repulse Bay," "Good Day,"
Chin Ice Cube
their rapidly deteriorating societies and saw a
"wasteland." Both poets were essentiallyapocalyp-
8 I Angelou "Cell
"Still Rise," Therapy,
GoodieMob
tic in natureas they witnesseddeath, disease,and
decay.Also,bothpoems talkabouta message,indi-
catingthe roleof a poet in societyas a messengeror
Otherpoems used for this unit were "LetAmerica prophet.Anothergroupdiscussedthe role of alle-
Be America Again" Langston
by Hughesand"Elegy goryin theirtwo texts,wherebothJohnDonne and
Writtenin a Country Churchyard" ThomasGray. the artistsfromthe RefugeeCamputilizerelation-
by
In additionto the grouppresentations,stu- ships with lovers to symbolizethe love and agony
dents were askedto complete an anthologyof ten poets can feel for theirsocieties.
poems that containedan elegy, a ballad,a sonnet, The unitwasconsistent withthe basictenets
and a poem that describeda place withwhichthey of criticalpedagogyin thatit was situatedin the ex-
were familiar. The title of the poem was to be the periences of the students (as opposed to those of
place that was featured. Also, the students were the teacher),called for criticaldialogueand a crit-
asked to write a poem that conveyed a mood; a ical engagementof the text,andrelatedthe textsto
poem that dealt with a political, social, or eco- largersocialandpoliticalissues.The studentswere
nomic problem that was importantto them (e.g., not onlyengagedandable to use this expertiseand
racism, teen pregnancy,drug abuse, police bru- positionality subjectsof the post-industrial
as world
tality,poverty, homelessness);a love poem;a poem to make powerfulconnections to canonicaltexts,
that celebrated a particularfacet of life (e.g., first they were also able to have fun learning about a
date, summertime, graduation); and two open culture and a genre of music with which they had
poems that dealt with whatever subject students great familiarity. Ultimately, our experiences in-
wanted and writtenin any style they desired. Fol- troducing Hip-hop and other elements of popular
lowing the group presentations,we held a poetry culture into traditional curricula lead us to believe
reading,where each student selected five original that there are countless possibilities for urban ed-
poems to readfor the class,givingbrief comments ucators who wish to jump outside the box and tap
on each poem such as the context or a special into the worlds of their students in order to make
meaning.For the outside of class assignment,stu- more powerful connections with traditional aca-
dentswere allowedto pickanysong of theirchoice demic texts and affirm, in meaningful ways, the
andwrite a five-to-sevenpage criticalessayon that everyday lives of those they teach.
journal.
ENlGLISH

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