Integrating critical literacy and conscious Hip-Hop in the classroom setting offers numerous benefits. It allows students to engage more effectively in conversations about contemporary topics, enhances their ability to integrate cultural perspectives, and provides a fresh perspective on the challenges they face in school and within their…

Background/Context: With the incessant wave of anti-Black and anti-immigrant sentiments, the extant political situation in the contemporary United States presents an ideal space, place, and time to investigate Black immigrant students' experiences and examine the ways in which dominant racial and linguistic ideologies shape their literate…

On the 400th anniversary of American enslavement the New York Times (NYT) 1619 project launched an interactive digital experience including a popular podcast centering the contributions and narratives of Black Americans. This study sought to understand how HBCU students responded to learning Black music history through what we term a "pop…

If an educator is to take a critical stance, teach students to do the same, and design lessons that engage students in thoughtful discussions and actions surrounding issues of social justice, then discussions of politics, race, culture, economics and systems of power are crucial to this work, and the use of hip-hop is a worthwhile endeavour. In…

This article explores the ways in which females who identify with hip-hop often develop and construct their identities in relation to media representations of blackness and femininity in hip-hop music and culture. In order for educators to support female students in constructing identities of empowerment and agency, they should be willing and able…

An effective teacher recognizes that their students may have different learning styles, which might call for the teacher to differentiate the lesson. A large reason why hip-hop culture is so attractive is that it appeals to the auditory, visual, and the kinesthetic (movement). It is our assertion that educators must do a better job at learning…

In recounting the history and present dynamics in the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, Sherry Deckman presents a portrait of what it means to leave a space better than you found it through song. The story of Kuumba--Harvard's oldest black student organization and now its largest multicultural organization--is told through the experiences of…

The minority population of the United States which includes African Americans is expected to be the majority by 2040, surpassing the number of Caucasians. This information is pertinent to educators because it is a reflection of anticipated changes in the ethnic composition of student bodies. Although African Americans have been identified as the…

Although the number of calls to integrate Hip-Hop culture into school curricula is growing, little attention is being paid to the reluctance of teachers and administrators to forge relationships between the cultures of school and of youth. This article explores some of the difficulties inherent in the relationships between Hip Hop and schooling,…

This article features key findings from a study that highlights the transformative impact of a pedagogical approach that employs Critical Multimodal Hip Hop Production (CMHHP). The study took place in an extended day program in a northern California public middle school among a group of 30, urban, African American, Chicano/a/Latino/a, and Asian…

This article explores unique issues regarding the effects of hip-hop culture on the identity development of young Black female college students. Through the lenses of womanist and Black feminist perspectives, the intersecting impact of race and gender are reviewed within the context of the competing influences of hip-hop on Black female identity.…

This research investigates the ways in which three African American high school girls interpret and challenge racialized and sexualized media representations of their race, class, and gender within music videos. The authors assert that these students' ability to counter stereotypes is a reflection of their cultural orientations, as well as their…

The "Brown v. Board of Education" decision provided unrestricted access to educational opportunities for all students. Unfortunately, despite the passing of the 50th anniversary of this landmark decision, academic excellence remains a dream deferred for many Black students when compared to their peers. This disparity, more popularly known as the…

Since slavery, attempted enclosures upon Black spaces of cultural production and autonomy (i.e. music, language, art) have manifested in various forms. In the context of the post-industrial terrain of urban southern California, the formation of the prison is the dominant model of forced enclosure in the lives of Black people. Moving beyond the…

"Cultural Collision and Collusion" addresses the complexity of problems that surround youth culture and school culture. By broadening the scholarly dialogue and examining and disseminating relevant research to practitioners, the book seeks to provide insight into youth culture and some manifestations of popular culture (e.g., hip-hop). In…