Theory’s Tone Deafness

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew McGraw
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
African American ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Music Theory ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Epistemic Injustice ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Music Program ◽  
Arts Programs

This chapter describes the relevance, failures, and possibilities of music theory in a jail music program in which rap and hip-hop are the primary genres the largely African-American participants produce. Participants’ “ethnotheory” mediates the theoretical frameworks underlying the software they use and the theoretical concepts the author brings into the jail. The author asks how music theory might be more useful in carceral contexts, both in terms of its analytical perspectives and as a strategic legitimation of inmate’s expressions in an oppressive social context. The author interrogates the claim that academic arts programs in carceral contexts are often exploitative and that music theory in such contexts may represent a form of epistemic injustice. Finally, the chapter concludes with some suggestions on how academic music theorists might further the aims of social justice in carceral spaces.

Feeling Black: A Conversation About Justice Imperatives in Education, Disability, and Health

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Samuel R. Hodge ◽  
Louis Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
African American ◽  
Social Constructions ◽  
Disability And Health ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Gender Culture ◽  
American Students ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Conducting Research

The purpose of this paper is to engage the reader in a conversation about justice imperatives in education, disability, and health. As counternarrative to structured majoritarian scholarship and positioned in the expressed intent of the National Academy of Kinesiology’s 90th annual meeting theme of Kinesiology’s Social Justice Imperative, we express feelings about the urgency for social justice in teacher education. To start, we operationally define social justice as advocacy, agency, and action. Next, we recommend the application of critical theoretical frameworks in conceptualizing and conducting research involving historically marginalized and minoritized populations (e.g., African American students). This conversation is theoretically grounded in intersectionality to offer a nuanced understanding of social constructions, such as ethnicity (e.g., African American) and race (e.g., Black), gender, culture, disability, and sociometric positioning regarding justice imperatives in education, disability, and health.

You Gotta Fight the Power

2015 ◽  
pp. 405-420
Author(s):  
Gloria Ladson-Billings
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
New Music ◽  
Protest Songs ◽  
Social Justice Teaching ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries ◽  
Creative Forces

The tradition of music and song in freedom and liberation movements is a long one. However, each generation begins to craft new songs and new music to address its own social context and stylistic tastes. From the slave chants of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to the protest songs of the 1960s, there has been a thread of resistance and freedom in the music of African Americans. However, one of the most generative and creative forces—hip-hop music and culture—has been popularized to represent depravity, misogyny, racism, and homophobia. This chapter explores the revolutionary and resistance roots of hip-hop and describes how teachers might leverage the genre’s attraction to engage youth in social justice teaching and learning.

scholarly journals Addressing Social Injustice with Urban African American Young Men Through Hip-hop: Suggestions for School Counselors

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-121
Author(s):  
Ahmad R. Washington
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
African American ◽  
School Counselors ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Rap Music ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Professional School ◽  
Social Justice Advocacy ◽  
Professional School Counselors ◽  
African American Young Men

In this manuscript, the author discusses how hip-hop and rap music can be used to as a tool for social justice advocacy to stimulate urban African American young men’s sociopolitical empowerment to combat educational barriers. The manuscript includes a historical examination of the environment in which hip-hop culture was conceived. The focus then shifts to how particular hip-hop artists’ lyrical content is germane to the social justice advocacy orientation mandate of 21st century professional school counselors working in urban settings. Finally, practical suggestions are be provided for how social justice oriented professional school counselors can apply this content when working directly with urban African American young men.

Introduction

2011 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Christopher Driscoll
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
American Academy ◽  
Annual Meeting ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Hip Hop Culture

At the 2010 annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion held in Atlanta, GA, a group of young scholars organized a wildcard session titled “What’s This ‘Religious’ in Hip Hop Culture?” The central questions under investigation by the panel were 1) what about hip hop culture is religious? and 2) how are issues of theory and method within African American religious studies challenged and/or rethought because of the recent turn to hip hop as both subject of study and cultural hermeneutic. Though some panelists challenged this “religious” in hip hop, all agreed that hip hop is of theoretical and methodological import for African American religious studies and religious studies in general. This collection of essays brings together in print many findings from that session and points out the implications of hip hop's influence on religious scholars' theoretical and methodological concerns.

Merle’s travel: A Quest For Completeness In Paule Marshall’s The chosen place, the timeless people.

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 36-42
Author(s):  
Dr. K. Radah ◽  
G. Gayathri
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Social Context ◽  
African American Women ◽  
African American Woman ◽  
American Woman ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
True Self ◽  
American Women ◽  
Human Need

African American women have been silenced and kept ignorant by the dominant culture and it is the human need to create and maintain a true self in a social context. However, such an endeavor becomes an ordeal for those who are doubly oppressed, for those who are muted and mutilated physically and psychically through the diabolic crossfire of caste/race, sex and colonialism. This paper focuses on, an African American Woman, throughout her journey of life, seeking completeness in terms of family, society and community level.

Barrio Music, Spirituality, and Social Justice in Latino Hip-Hop

2018 ◽  
pp. 235-261
Author(s):  
Alejandro Nava
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Rap Music ◽  
Latino Youth ◽  
Social Concerns

This essay explores the spiritual and social concerns of US Latino and Latin American hip-hop. Beginning with a description of hip-hop’s influence on the author’s educational journey, the essay considers some of the key influences of Latino music on US rap music, as well as the growing dominance of hip-hop among Latino youth throughout the Americas. Besides documenting the influences of US rap on Latino music, it charts the distinct idioms, styles, and philosophies of Latino hip-hop, emphasizing the unique contributions of this subgenre to the broader culture of hip-hop.

Anti-Black Racism and Historical Trauma: Pushing the Positive Youth Development Paradigm

2021 ◽  
pp. 0044118X2110078
Author(s):  
Anna Ortega-Williams ◽  
Troy Harden
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
African American ◽  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
African American Youth ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
Developmental Needs ◽  
Development Paradigm

Positive youth development (PYD), while embraced in many sectors of youth work, has faced criticism for its primary emphasis on positive personal change and adaptation, without a strong emphasis on social justice and culture, especially relevant for African Americans. Additional models of PYD addressing these conceptual gaps have emerged, however few explicitly address anti-Black racism and historical trauma impacting African American youth development. In this paper, expanded models of PYD, specifically Empowerment-Based Positive Youth Development (EBPYD) and Critical Positive Youth Development (CPYD) will be examined for their strengths and limitations in responding to (1) anti-Black racism and (2) historical trauma among African American youth. Key strategies of these models, such as promoting prosocial behavior and civic engagement will be reconceptualized and expanded to account for developmental needs imposed by historical oppression and contemporary racism against African American youth. Implications for PYD programing will be discussed.

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