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Power Structures and Hip-Hop

Lesson 2: The Education System and Racism

Objectives:

  • To engage the participants in critically analyzing the education system and the relevance of school in their daily lives and realities. To engage the participants in discussion around systemic racism.

Materials:

Procedure

Presentations:

Follow up from last class assignment (homework)
Each student presents to the class their findings about Hip-Hop in their native countries (Origins of Hip-Hop, uses of Hip-Hop, etc)

Discuss as a group:

  1. Commonalities
  2. Differences
  3. Interesting points

Videos & Discussion

Video 1: Dead Prez - "They Schools" (music video)

Handout: Dead Prez - "They Schools" (lyrics)

Play clip from video (5:15 min).

Video 2: Public Enemy - "Fight the Power" (music video)

Handout: Public Enemy - "Fight the Power" (lyrics)

Play clip from video (5:21 min).

Willie Lynch (document)
(Facilitator’s Note: please note that the authenticity of this document is questionable and there has been a lot of academic and non-academic debate about whether or not this document is real or fabricated.)

Handout: "Willie Lynch" (document)

Have participant(s) read excerpt aloud.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do these things still exist in modern times?
  2. In what ways do they exist? Do the things in the Willie Lynch excerpt play out in your own lives?

(Facilitator’s Note: it is good to have participants connect to personal experiences)

Examples:

  • Neighbourhood divides (East vs. West)
  • light skin/dark skin preference
  • “good” hair
  • distrust of black people
  • female vs. male
  • age (old vs. young)
  • Valuing things that are “white”, white value systems/culture vs. black value systems/culture. (ballet vs. break dancing, Shakespeare vs. rap, Picasso vs. Graffiti, etc)

Question & Answer (Informal Evaluation)

Time for learners to ask questions, give comments and feedback about anything they found interesting from the workshop.

 



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