How can Black Studies reestablish it's presence in the black community as an authentic voice of Hip Hop and post-Hip Hop generations?

Fathers of Hip Hop
Flash, Herc, and Bam

One of the most important aspects of Hip Hop is authenticity.  So, when we look at Hip Hop and its role in Black Studies, the issue of authenticity must be considered.  Authenticity, or "keepin' it real or 100" in Hip Hop is the highest level of respect one can earn in the hood.  This was established when the founding fathers of Hip Hop, Kool Dj Herc, Afrika Bambatta, and Grandmaster Flash created and established the tenants of the culture.  Knowledge and cultural upliftment reigned supreme. In That's the Joint: The Hip Hop Studies Reader, Second Edition, the chapter, Hip Hop's Founding Father Speaks the Truth, Bam and Flash points out that people could not come into the community unless they showed respect to the ones that established the culture that existed because it took years to establish (pg. 50). That has been the most critical point of this course all semester, showing respect and acknowledging the cultures that has emerged and exists in distressed communities in spite of social factors such as high crime, unemployment, and various rampant addiction issues.

Gang Turf Script

Authenticity, as this course discovered over the semester has been established in the communities where it is a matter of life and death. We discovered through our travels this semester that the university struggles to maintain credibility in distressed community.  The concern that has been echoed abundantly over the years is that the university conducts research in the community, but does not leave enough behind. Additionally, projects get started, but because the academy is a transient space, the stakeholders always change.  Bridgett mentioned the need for courses that would prepare students for civic engagement. What would that look like?  How would those courses connect with the various stakeholders in the community?  How would Black Studies connect with the folks on the street corners?  How does Black Studies develop the authenticity with neighborhood shot callers to ensure that students do not get caught in the crossfire of turf wars and gang disputes?  How does Black Studies use Hip Hop to provide international students with authentic cultural experiences that will expand their knowledge and perception about the authentic origins of indigenous African American culture? From a Hip Hop perspective, how does Black Studies, as Herc stated, "be true to the game."

What are your initial thoughts for engaging the Bristol Park Community?

On Tuesday, we will begin our engagement efforts in Bristol Place as a class. This post is to reflect your gut feelings about people, neighborhood enhancement (thanks Maria), and local intelligentsia. What do you think young people of the post Hip Hop generations will respond too? I really want you to be sensible in your thoughts and remember that this is a community with young people and families that have culture, dreams, and aspirations. Additionally, allow these thoughts to to help shape your proposed final class project.

How Can We Use Bill Strickland's Program Philosophy as a Model for Social Change?

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?

What is the New Black Studies?

This is a huge question. Black Studies in its origins was about creating historical awareness, redefining and developing what knowledge is, being inspired by as well as inspiring local black communities, and confronting White imperialism head on with undeniable data not politics as it relates to addressing the notions of oppression perpetuated by the capitalist class. One highlight of Brown's Dude, Where's My Black Studies Department, was his discussion on the Malcolm X Consciousness Conference organized by Laney College in Oakland, California. He made reference to it as the new Black Studies (p.113).

It appears that he described it as such because it was a return to the founding tenets of Black Studies which was to insure that there was a community connection. Moreover, Brown discussed how some of the panelists, some who were former Black Panthers suggested that each Black Studies department must have a part of their program that channels students back to their community to do work. Is that what's missing? Will that create the awareness that black students of the Hip Hop and post-Hip Hop generations need in order to be spirited to address the issues that are impacting impoverished African American communities today? Or is it just a fleeting notion, a fleeting notion of the belief that today's black student can find the throwback spirit of struggles that led to the development of the original Black Studies. What if, by chance, they found that spirit of yesteryear, would that be enough to revitalize Black America?

I suggest that what is missing today is the "moral panic" of White America. History has shown that speaking truth to power does not work, nor does "in all deliberate speed." Brown made reference to Cornel West's assertions that young people are sleepwalking intellectually, and that he need to use a powerful oral tradition to wake them up and connect them with the democratic process necessary to change the conditions that plague the black community. West used Hip Hop as a way to connect. Is Hip Hop an answer, or has Hip Hop been co-opted and commercialized to a point that makes it's agency ineffective? Is there something else on the horizon?

When University of Illinois IPOWERED civic engagement scholars from Dr. Patterson's Afro 498 course, participated in a community based discussion on the redevelopment efforts in a North Champaign neighborhood, they immediately responded with fervor and outcry against the proposed plan, and used the verbiage of gentrification to describe what was going to happen if the residents in this historic African American community signed on to the plan as presented. As a result, members from the steering committee came to class to dialogue. The conversation centered around how to develop the space without creating yet another example of Black Americans being displaced for the sake of progress. It was the spirit of those students, graduate and undergraduate, black and white that challenged the city's proposed plan and policies through the historic tenet of community engagement from a Black Studies department within a predominately white institution.

Noted black scholar, Manning Marable, made the point before he passed away that in order for Black Studies to have meaning in the 21st Century, it must be digitized. How do we digitize black studies? who will create the code for syncing the oral traditions to the legacies of the black lived experience? Who will create the code that breaths life into the print traditions that binds so many black scholars? How do we scale up Black Studies in a traditional, print based environment. An environment that dictates what knowledge is and maintains the mechanisms that gate keeps that knowledge with promotion and tenure. How do we merge indigenous knowledge into the equation? How is this measured, who measures it? who determines it's success or failure? These are just a few of the tough questions that need answers if there is to be a New Black Studies in the 21st century.

What role can African American Studies play in developing students of the post-Hip Hop generations?

The question posed is in direct response to two events that our class participated in. The first was the City of Champaign presentation to community residents regarding the plans for the redevelopment of Bristol Park. There were concerns that the outcome of the project was going to be gentrification of another historically African American space. The second event was the African American Cultural Center's state of the black student at Illinois program. Students expressed concerns about racist incidents in the residence halls, being the only African American in class, and the difficulty some students have adjusting to a predominately white campus.

Has African American Studies addressed issues like these in the past? If so, what were the results? Have African American Studies programs addressed gentrification issues in communities, If so, what were the results? Are these areas that Hip Hop could play a role, if so, how?

Did Brown address any of these issues in the latest readings, if so, what did he say and what can we learn from his discourse?

How can Black Studies connect with the Hip Hop and post-Hip Hop generations?

Thus far, Brown has really set a tone of disdain for the current state of Black Studies departments and programs. Remember, Brown is from the era that created the perfect storm for Black Studies to exist in the late 1960's and early 70's. However, in a reminiscent way, he talked about how proud he was of a more contemporary moment of protest when a group of black students at Berkley kicked off the black out protest. In that same instance he expressed his contempt for white students who dismissed it as well off black kid demagoguery. I think we have arrived at a point in the reading where Brown consistently reflects on how university administration derailed the advancement of African Americans in the academy, which then cripples efforts to advance African American communities as a whole.

So, where does Black Studies go from here? If Brown makes the argument that Hip Hop and post Hip Hop generations can redefine black studies, it's going to be a hard argument to support. Two words. Promotion and tenure. The promotion and tenure structure of universities and colleges often do not encourage junior faculty to be involved in communities. Publishing and research initiatives often dictate how a junior faculty member is positioned in the academy. Unfortunately, being involved in African American community redevelopment is not rewarded. Why is that? Moreover, given the current climate of university and African American community relations can Hip Hop Studies become the new Black Studies?