Wednesday, March 28, 2012
What role can the African American Studies Department play in addressing the issue of mass incarceration?
In the book, The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander provides a historical context on how the United States successfully created a permanent underclass or racial caste by criminalizing African Americans, particularly, African American males. Is there a way that Afro Studies can utilize Hip Hop to raise the awareness about this issue among Hip Hop and post-Hip Hop generations? Has Hip Hop been used in the past to discuss the jailing of African American men to support the labor needed to fuel the prison industrial complex/ If so, when and how, and by whom?
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I think the main point that needs to come out of this question is the importance of education. I know this was a hot topic in contention between individuals at the Champaign Jail meeting. It was brought to my attention that 95% of the money used is spent on law enforcing/aiding facilities and 5% on education. I think these figures seem extremely imbalanced and by designating 95% of funding to helping law enforcement and building facilities, it seems like people are just trying to paper up the cracks in society and not get to the root of the issue. The root of the issue is that some African Americans, who the New Jim Crow specifically talks about, have a removed access to education and such and thus implementing more jail facilities and strengthening the current ones seems like it's just setting people up to fail. It is neglecting to address the real issue. Instead hip hop should be used in schools, colleges, and even youth centres and community centres as a way of educating individuals and also as a method of getting them off the streets where these crimes are being committed. Doing nothing about the education problem, and lack of help thereof, only further perpetuates the problem as it appears no one is looking to help those African Americans who need it, and instead people see the quick fix of reinforcing stronger jail facilities and removing those who cause trouble. Even if it started off small, such as a youth centre running a hip hop session on the weekends where kids come together and cypher, write lyrics and create music, it gives them a project of staying off the streets. Then turning this music into something that can educate the children/youths, showing them that college is attainable for them. I just believe that education is the first step that needs to be taken, not strengthening the already existing jail.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hannah, in that I was shocked to see that only 5% of the jail budget was to be used for education/prevention. How backwards is that. The New Jim Crow points out a similar phenomena with the criminalization of drug crimes in the inner city, and the dramatic increase of narcotics team funding nationally and on the state level. It also dramatically DECREASED the budget for drug prevention and rehabilitation measures within communities. There is no coincidence in this number change- the investment is not in rebuilding and building-up the black community, as profit is made in its demise with this permanent underclass that Michelle Alexander addresses. Hip-hop in my opinion for MOST, and not all perpetuates a lifestyle of crime, drugs, money and glamour as that is the life that MOST rappers talk about in their music. It can definitely be used for the opposite effect, and for those that choose to listen to artists that address social issues they often are on a different path. We know at this point that hip-hop can be used to implement change, however my question is how can hip-hop be held accountable? The government is obviously not going to hold themselves accountable so who will.
DeleteAccountability, as Brigitte brings up, is an interesting issue. I mean talk about industry. The American Media machine has control over what aspects of HIP HOP are portrayed. I mean its all about money.
ReplyDeleteI can list artists (Tupac, NAS, Jay Z , Commen) that have touched numerous times on issues of the overabundance of Black and brown faces in Jails. As far as the general population hearing these lyrics. NOT ON THE RADIO.
Lupe Fiasco in the past decade is one of my favorite lyricists. He connects the big picture in many of his tracks. He often connects problems back to the powers that be. Yes he describes the circumstances like many artists do but he goes as far to make accusations! which is bold and powerful. Other artists do this as well.
The criminalization of black men is a deep deep issue. I can remember growing up in Detroit and hearing the news and praying that the perpetrator of a murder theft ect was not black. Living in a house with only white ppl this was my closeted emotion.
Mass incarceration seems like a (Dr. EVIL) type of phenomenon, in which there must be a mastermind somewhere at the controls. Unfortunately, I suspect that it is two deep to credit one white man.
Psychologically, as Brigitte was getting at, what drives folks to the lyrics about crime, womanizing, drugs ect. Why are the suburban white kids drawn here and why are the urban kids drawn here? Could it be masculinity in the states( Especially for black men) is so far eroded that these lyrics provide confidence aka swagger! I don't know.
As a Therapist I utiloze hip hop in the form of music therpay. It helps those connected with it to form opinions aside from star rappers and the media. Upon examination it allows for extreme growth.
I agree with Ragamuffin that many artist have touched on the issues of Black and Brown men being locked up in many of their lyrics, and it definitely happens outside of those artist as well. When you mentioned Tupac I automatically thought about his interview that he did when he was in jail (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjOSof5TSn8)if you have never seen it you should definitely watch it. He touches on his experience in jail, death in jail, the economic power of jails, and the culture around jail and manhood. As he says in the interview, "Jail is not the spot."
ReplyDeleteRap lyrics have been mentioned before and I think we should also ask the question where do those experiences come from? It is true that a lot of mainstream rap music plays into many aspects of criminality, but the question also should be why do youth feel they need to do these things to survive? What have they experienced that has lead them to psychologically think that way? Many people do speak about things that they have not lived but many have and it is reality for them. This leads to the question of where is the line between creative expression and accountability is. This is not to justify the representation of crime in rap, but it does provide narrative that other places do not capture, like Chuck D says, “Hip-Hop is the CNN of the hood.”
Alexander's book provides a great presentation of mass incarceration, especially from a policy standpoint. She does a great job of breaking down the policy shifts that have played a large role into our current mass incarceration for men and boys of color. Some of these policy changes are mandatory minimums, increased time for drug possession, and stop and searches to name a few. It is important that we understand these policies because they play a large role in mass incarceration.
I disagree with J. Williams on the second part of that quote, "It is true that a lot of mainstream rap music plays into many aspects of criminality, but the question also should be why do youth feel they need to do these things to survive? I don't think the question should be why do youth feel they need to do these things to survive but the question should be why do youth are easy to get influence by someone's lyrics which leads them to commit crimes? I also believe that a lot of the mainstream rap music plays into many aspects of criminality and a lot of the crimes committed by the youth is because of the influence of rap music.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Jean with accrediting the issues of the lower class communities, also referred to as the ghetto, to the influence of rap music. Alexander's book attributes to the influence of policy and procedure with American government, and its adverse affect on the minorities of these communities due to racially coded rhetoric. For example, Alexander points out the discrepancy in legal consequences pertaining to an individual caught with cocaine juxtaposed to one caught with crack. It is a well know fact that crack is typically found within the lower class, minority communities whereas cocaine is typically used by affluent Caucasians as a result of price differential.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I support Ragginmuffinsavy's notion that the American Media Machine has effective control of the image of Hip-Hop by determining what they will broadcast to the world. History showcases that Hip-Hop was created as a vocal response of the lower class Latino and African-American communities in response to the oppressions that they were subjected to as a result of globalization as well as advancements in technology. Yet, the commercialization of the genre, as well as culture, led to an emphasis on the acquisition of the "almighty dollar" rather than the mental stimulation of those listening.
However, I do agree with Jean in the belief that we need to figure out why Hip-Hop is raising today's youth. Could it be that today's mother and father have been removed from the house, by way of incarceration or a inner desire to contradict the national view of the "Welfare Queen"? Previous volunteer and mentoring experiences have exposed to me many of our youth that know the lyrics to the "Hot Nine at Nine" in Chicago struggle to read and write at their respective grade levels. In response, I can't help but think of the current influence of oratory pedagogy withing today's educational system simply because, like Ragginmuffinsavy, many members of these communities listen to music as a means of therapy in response to the situations that they endure on a daily basis.
I agree with Hannah that the fight begins in education, and reeducation. The old saying that an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. Many of the mothers I know who are currently raising black boys have expressed a distrust and discuss with the educational system and it's effect on our children. Even down to the kindergarten level this is seen. So I think that black studies should be at the forefront of re-educating or re-evaluating and then re structuring a system that will work for our youth that's where it begins
ReplyDeleteI can understand where both of you are coming from. In the case of criminality in hip-hop music and the black youth becoming the criminals, it's almost like the old chicken and egg proverb. I think it's safe to say that none of us really know which came first or which has the greater influence. Because the criminal lyrics and crimes themselves go hand-in-hand, it's not easy to distinguish who's to blame. However, it is simple enough to dissect the imagery found in today's Hip-Hop music and raise awareness that a change needs to be seen sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteI was referring to Julian and Jean at the beginning of my comment.
ReplyDeleteHip-hop or rather commercialized rap has made it cool to be "gangster". This is all well and fine since we as fans and listeners have insisted that our hip-hop icons or at least the mainstream artists "keep it real". Now can we blame the artists for keeping it real and telling their stories? I think not, the question is finding out who is promoting these artists and saying that these figures are not acceptable for out youths anymore, because the mainstream media determines what people think is cool or popular. There are emcees that rap about other things besides committing cries and drug dealing but they don't get any airtime therefore cannot influence anyone.
ReplyDeleteAs far as this prison issue is concerned it is about how prisons have become privatized and can now use them for an insanely cheap labor force. So what motivation do those in charge have for changing what makes them loads of money. I think the question is hip-hop truly dead if we cannot change the message that it sending to our youths and if so should we finally put it to rest and start a new genre of music, something better and something that we control not mainstream media?