#HipHopEd Chat is a weekly cyber cypher (chat) where stakeholders within Hip-Hop and Education come together to discuss issues that impact the youth and adults within our local, national and global communities. #HipHopEd Chat is a virtual form of professional development for Educators, workshop for Parents and other Adults and a brainstorming session of Hip-Hop practitioners. Our #HipHopEd chats are every Tuesday from 9-10 EST. on Twitter.
So much to unpack in the video. I’m anxious to have the #HipHopEd forum to discuss it as well! Did a critical analysis of it with my kids this week and many of my classes were left speechless by the video.
Watched “This is America”
with students - had a good discussion about gun violence, systemic oppression and some elements of that video meant to distract viewers #HipHopEd
#HipHopEd My students utilized their Graphi Novel analyzation skills from our work with the Graphic Novel March to unpack “This Is America” instantly connecting the past and present.
There's a lot to unpack in #ThisIsAmerica. It's a good exercise for interpretation, especially since interpretation (of any art) allows for multiple meanings of an element, even if those meanings contradict one another. #hiphoped
The distracting background action in the video - like the Ss in uniforms dancing - seemed to connect symbolically to distractions in society around issues of racism and injustice. #HipHopEd
“This is America” also presents a brilliant example of satire at its finest, and heaviest. It is heavy, biting, and profound. One of my classes was so swept by it that they just asked to rewatch it several times before even beginning reflection and comment on it. #HipHopEd
Childish Gambino’s dance moves distracted all of us from the craziness that was happening in the background of the video & that's exactly the point he's trying to make.......#ThisIsAmericahttps://t.co/7o9e0XBGld
The dimensions of the visuals in “This is America” can be viewed as a reflection of the school system as a whole and many individual schools. Focusing on the distractions and not addressing the real issues in the background #HipHopEd
So, who picked up on Young Thug specifically being the one to sing the outro being a metaphor for breeding black artists for industry gain AND mass incarceration of black men? Young Thug - exactly how black men are viewed by the oppressors. #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
That says a lot about students' ability to self-reflect and consider heavy issues. I had to do the same thing - watch multiple times before I could begin processing the layers and symbols #HipHopEd
The juxtaposition of the “This is America” video was fascinating in and of itself. Just watching that movement on mute tells a history of this country. #HipHopEd
There are a lot of "think pieces" on #ThisIsAmerica and I'm sure there will be for a long time, but I'm so curious to read what Ss think. I hope there will be a site w/their writing/observations soon. #hiphoped
Peace #HipHopEd Happy to celebrate #TeacherAppreciationDay with the illest group of Educators out! #Salute to Glover for this art piece & the needed dialogue & urgency it has sparked!
The music video of #ThisIsAmerica had me watching it for the past few days looking for gaps. It had me questioning extensional versus sobriety. #hiphoped
Yes! Our attention to racism and acts of injustice is fleeting, our focus so easily shifts away from what so desperately needs to be addressed #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
Fascinating the video has a prayer group immediately following the gun violence as well as sporadically throughout the video. After all the shootings, we get “hope and prayers” from the public, but nothing is done before the next shooting. Then we receive more prayer #hiphoped
The “entertainment” in the forefront with the “chaos” in the background was genius interplay. Also troubling to realize what it articulated. I had to watch twice to catch it. #HipHopEd
I couldn't take my eyes off of Glover the first 3-4 times I watched. I agree, mesmerizing and disturbing. Then I forced myself to ignore him and watch only the background for a few viewings. Equally mesmerizing and disturbing. #HipHopEd
#ThisIsAmerica also seems like a good opportunity for teachers to sit down and react to it. Just as we see things in the video as we "look closer", so too can we see things "in the background" in our students' lives if we do the same. #hiphoped
Student Comments “The Killing of music for a purpose”, “America blinds us and kills us from behind”, “I love that @ltsGambino@donaldglover makes a choice not to wear clothing to distract us from the truth”, “I see past him and only the background like #March”, #HipHopEd
Let’s make that happen. We reviewed it today but didn’t have a lot of time to have students write about it. I’d love to have collaboration among grade levels. #hiphoped
Truth! I also believe the satire of “This is America” should be used in juxtaposition to songs that our kids listen to on a regular basis that lament violence in hip hop culture (such as Lil Durk’s Crossroads). It helped me bring the lesson full circle #HipHopEd
School counselors must use this video in group counseling curriculum to foster conversations around difficult emotions in today's sociopolitical climate. #HipHopEd
Peace #HipHopEd Happy to celebrate #TeacherAppreciationDay with the illest group of Educators out! #Salute to Glover for this art piece & the needed dialogue & urgency it has sparked!
@donaldglover#thisisamerica is a perfect video for teachers to use to think about the violence our students see. When I watched it, I immediately thought about how much violence is done to students of color. #HipHopEd
#HipHopEd “this is America” school shootings, church bombings, church shootings, disposable black bodies, all the while black people endure, create powerful culture, cling to faith
I also saw the students and teacher (@donaldglover) who were dancing throughout the violence, injustices similar to those schools where we see students “skinning and grinning” while an education sysytem (i.e. for profit charters) take adv of them. #HipHopEd
This might be out there, but for me it was a lot like watching parts of #Lemonade and I think you could pair it with some parts to deepen several conversations. #HipHopEd
I couldn't take my eyes off of Glover the first 3-4 times I watched. I agree, mesmerizing and disturbing. Then I forced myself to ignore him and watch only the background for a few viewings. Equally mesmerizing and disturbing. #HipHopEd
Tons of powerful images, but the varying roles of students throughout #ThisisAmerica still has me shook....begs the question of the true realities we have put them in and created for them... #HipHopEd
Love this suggestion. I agree a print out of the lyrics is helpful, too. The imagery is so strong in the video that it was very easy for me (a lyrics person) to ignore the lyrics. I can imagine some students feeling the same. #hiphoped
To me, #ThisIsAmerica was at the level of a Spike Lee Joint. It was loaded with social commentary. It was the grandson of Sweet Sweetback who came back to collect his dues. #HipHopEd
The white horse riding pass the police car with someone dressed in black symbolizes the security rank within the KKK. They wore black outfits. The white outfits were for the rank and file #HipHopEd
I showed my students #ThisisAmerica and the first time around they only noticed Childish Gambino and the dancing & of course they acknowledged the shootings but didn’t put very much emphasis on them or everything else in the background. Literally #ThisisAmerica#HipHopEd
God, especially with the gospel choir singing it repeatedly before getting gunned down in that segment. That scene always sends chills down my spine when watching the video. #HipHopEd
There is no single interpretation of #ThisIsAmerica that is correct. Each perspective holds value. Its gift is how its awakened a need to interpret it #HipHiopEd
When students see themselves in the lesson through real substantive connections they open up. Even when the synergy is painful... authenticity is something that all our kids crave. How does this connect to who I am?... that’s why #ThisIsAmerica resounds with them. #HipHopEd
In an era where "pursits" would place Donald Glover as a "woke" rapper, his rejection of that title by featuring his contemporaries on the adlibs is telling #HipHopEd
Tons of powerful images, but the varying roles of students throughout #ThisisAmerica still has me shook....begs the question of the true realities we have put them in and created for them... #HipHopEd
When students see themselves in the lesson through real substantive connections they open up. Even when the synergy is painful... authenticity is something that all our kids crave. How does this connect to who I am?... that’s why #ThisIsAmerica resounds with them. #HipHopEd
I also saw the need for Ss to be able to “dance” their way past all of the things that throw their lives into chaos. Kids should still be allowed to be kids and Ss find ways to create safe spaces that can only be occupied by them. #HipHopEd
The way they carefully cradle and protect the guns speaks volumes in this video. Protect 2nd Ammendment is more important than lives. #HipHopEd#ThisisAmerica
@donaldglover#thisisamerica is a perfect video for teachers to use to think about the violence our students see. When I watched it, I immediately thought about how much violence is done to students of color. #HipHopEd
And a biblical reference yes? In the Bible, Revelations 6:8 (KJV) reads: “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and the name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.” #HipHopEd
As a follow up to the conversation @TheRealHipHopEd is having tonight I’m interested in knowing if and how you guys are incorporating #ThisisAmerica in your classrooms? ALSO, tune into the conversation happening right now via the hashtag #HipHopEd
The Ss in uniforms that look like they go to a private school really connected w our Ss when we watched it in my office..started sharing stories of racial profiling and how a Ss wearing a uniform downtown protected him from police violence when other youth were pinned #HipHopEd
The dancing of the students can be viewed as a coping mechanism and the notion of never looking behind you. It’s existing in your own reality even at the cost of being aloof #HipHopEd
It reminds me every day that no matter how hard of a day I may have at school, I must still give my kids grace, as so many of them go back to home/neighborhood situations that no one should have to endure. #HipHopEd
Made my students watch #ThisIsAmerica and discuss their observations. One student felt that the ppl dancing represented the “American Dream” and how the chaos in the back portrays what really goes on behind the smoke and mirrors #hiphoped
I really appreciated the African music mixed with the contemporary hip hop flavor. I was floored with its simplicity mixed with the 21st century modernity...#HipHopEd
I think some people dismissed @donaldglover early in his career as just an actor (a comedian, no less) just trying to rap. I was onto him right from Camp. Dude's got flow, and behind some nerdy goofiness on that album is some real depth. #hiphoped
I really want to understand this but google is not helping! What is a "pursit" -- and -- I don't understand enough to even *ask*. :/ Are you willing to re-splain? #HipHopEd
Here’s a poster of their observations of after watching #ThisIsAmerica I was so impressed and it helped me realized despite what mainstream America thinks. This generation is aware they simply need the space and guidance to voice that #hiphoped
I'm having a difficult time with the students/kids in the video... The conditions we've created and perpetuated for students are deplorable. But again, we adults distracted by irrelevant things like testing and technology. #HipHopEd
One possible read of #ThisIsAmerica is a critique of capitalism & its interdependence on whiteness. Power structures are a constellation of interests & interest convergence. #hiphoped
My question of gun violence in this video comes to why did we have the red cloth taken at each murder? Was the choir the Charleston 9? So much symbolism. #HipHopEd
Not just African, but the style of the music and the school uniforms reminded me specifically of South African students rebelling against apartheid. Took me right back to Sarafina. #HipHopEd
I really appreciated the African music mixed with the contemporary hip hop flavor. I was floored with its simplicity mixed with the 21st century modernity...#HipHopEd
I've been reading a lot of commentary about the role of the uniform....from Ron Clark to charter schools...don't necessarily agree but it has people talking. #HipHopEd
This critical work, of course, begs the question of the role of art vs. artist in society. We have to be conscious of what expectations we place on Glover as a result of this production. #HipHopEd
In an era where hip-hop "purists" would place Donald Glover as a "woke" rapper, his rejection of that title by featuring his contemporaries on the adlibs is telling #HipHopEd
There are a number of layers & reads for symbolism in #ThisIsAmerica. That’s what a legendary hip hop record does. Requires attention, dialogue, and time to reflect. This is true for our pedagogy as well. #hiphoped
Thanks for the insights tonight... A nice resource here #HipHopEd 18 Hidden Meanings And Messages Behind Childish Gambino's Brilliant Music Video, "This Is America" https://t.co/81S1J4u34B via @officialkls
Weed as self medication but also as a money maker that was used to criminalize (make your money) only to be later legalized for others to profit. #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
When you see the choir you think of the Charleston 9 but in the video there are 10 people and they are singing whereas the actual murders happened after Bible study. It could be a metaphor for the state of the black church #HipHopEd
The kids dancing background made me think about how many of our kids wanting to be like celebrities could lead to the demise of our communities. #ThisIsAmerica#HipHopEd
Thanks for the insights tonight... A nice resource here #HipHopEd 18 Hidden Meanings And Messages Behind Childish Gambino's Brilliant Music Video, "This Is America" https://t.co/81S1J4u34B via @officialkls
The "I'm so pretty" line and imagery creates an amazing space for a conversation on masculinity, sexuality & gender performance #ThisIsAmerica#HipHopEd
Girl I need some screenshots, but I'm thinking juxtaposing physical violence and emotional pain w/the elements that deal w/our history. Also, a female voice w/a male one. #HipHopEd
Afterwards, we began to create a dance from our own depictions of the video. Here’s a snippet, the hoops represent the bubble everyone lives in only briefly coming out to acknowledge tragedy before going along with their regular program #hiphoped
I'm also stuck on the dancing among the chaos: Is it distraction to keep us away from addressing systemic issues, or does it show us that brilliance happens despite the chaos. #hiphoped#thisisamerica
After watching the video countless times, i have witnessed my students just dancing to the song (similar to the students in the video) while I’ve been ruminating on it constantly. It’s truly art imitating life and life imitating art. #HipHopEd
“Me Against the World” is still an incredible work, both as a song and album. Pac’s “Even the genius asks his questions” is a quote on my classroom door. #HipHopEd
The murder of the gospel choir illustrates the oppression of black joy. Whether it's the disruption of the cookout/block party or the systemic denial of anything that purports advancement. History has shown America will stop it at great lengths #HipHopEd#ThisisAmerica
It us important to note that the title is “This is America” which means that the true meanings lie beyond race. It reflects systems, societal values and the impact of generational choices #HipHopEd
Ah yes, yes. I'd love to talk more about this. I'ma have to go re-watch Lemonade with this new perspective. I bet you could create a timeline of sorts using these two current pieces to reference moments in history #HipHopEd
Here’s a poster of their observations of after watching #ThisIsAmerica I was so impressed and it helped me realized despite what mainstream America thinks. This generation is aware they simply need the space and guidance to voice that #hiphoped
Wish I could be there with you to join the discussion! The irony and paradox of that scene alone could be the central kernel of a month’s worth of classes, if not more! #HipHopEd
I appreciated the subversion of stereotypes in #ThisIsAmerica. From Jim Crow to materialism, theres an interdisciplinary unit here. So many readings can be incorporated like New Jim Crow 4 example. #hiphoped
The murder scene of the choir can open the door for a conversation of how the versatility and functionality of music has changed. Music that fueled our movements now fuel our movements! #HipHopEd
For me that just made me think of folks being "dragged" or just very disdainfully disregarded. The human body and person, along w/a Black man's humanity just discarded literally and figuratively in this society that commodifies the Black body. #HipHopEd
We dance to avoid the pain. We dance to escape the pain. The pain still comes. We dance in the midst of pain. We dance away the pain. We cant afford to stop dancing #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
#ThisIsAmerica is an example of the Beautiful Ugly that good art provides. It creates opportunity for artists of all ages to be inspired, to draw courage and perhaps tell their own versions of the truth. #HipHopEd
Any thoughts on the lyric “Look what I’m whippin’ up?” I was thinking drugs, creativity, as well as slavery. The layers on a single bar!!! #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
Reminds me of Muhammad Ali: "When will they ever have another fighter who writes poems, predicts rounds, beats everybody, makes people laugh, makes people cry, and is as tall and extra pretty as me?" #HipHopEd
The "I'm so pretty" line and imagery creates an amazing space for a conversation on masculinity, sexuality & gender performance #ThisIsAmerica#HipHopEd
#ThisIsAmerica is an example of the Beautiful Ugly that good art provides. It creates opportunity for artists of all ages to be inspired, to draw courage and perhaps tell their own versions of the truth. #HipHopEd
I thought one message in #ThisIsAmerica is pretty clearly that Whiteness & twisted perceptions of Blackness by dominant ideologies is corrosive & literally muderous. #hiphoped
YES!!!!! It saddens (and ANGERS) me that they're seemingly becoming "conditioned" to these new realities of society... Main question: What are we going to do to save them?! #HipHopED
Tons of powerful images, but the varying roles of students throughout #ThisisAmerica still has me shook....begs the question of the true realities we have put them in and created for them... #HipHopEd
The crazy ish is the behaviors used by youth to cope with pain/trauma are demonized and often used as a "justification" to inflict more pain/trauma #HipHopEd
The irony of the song repeatedly telling the black man to get money and all the cars in the video were old and plain. This is a contradiction to how many black men spend their money #HipHopEd
Someone pointed out that it seemed like the only calming part of the video was when Donald Glover was lighting his joint. Is this what our kids are doing to remain calm in their chaotic world? #ThisIsAmerica#hiphoped
@LMichaelGipson made an important point around #childishgambino simply utilizing tools that an artist gets when they've been formally trained. What's special about his sharing & the creation of #ThisIsAmerica is that he had the courage to do exactly what he wanted to do #hiphoped
I'm also thinking so many paired texts to go with a critical analysis of #Lemonade & #ThisIsAmerica... pieces by Hughes, Douglass, Baldwin, Hansberry, Morrison. Lawd! #HipHopEd
The imagery depicts the American identity as one that is being sold distractions & a materialistic world, while we ignore a reality plagued by violence & systematic injustice. We are living a lie, one in which we would rather be consumers than confront our truths.
#ThisIsAmerica
I’m just finishing a unit on drug addiction/ abuse and the teenage brain with my bio classes, and #ThisisAmerica -as well as other works-such as KOD’s Once an Addict, have allowed my kids to apply their knowledge/conceptual understanding in a far more personal way. #HipHopEd
In reply to
@chrisemdin, @kwymer6, @CSpearsEDU, @Knight3k
In many school settings the teacher will have to lay out the ground rules that watching “This is America” is a higher end thinking exercise where there is rarely a clear right or wrong answer. Schools don’t promote true student voice #HipHopEd
The crazy ish is the behaviors used by youth to cope with pain/trauma are demonized and often used as a "justification" to inflict more pain/trauma #HipHopEd
Im thinking Beyonce smashing the car with the bat & Glover with the gun. The car is disposable. Glover made the people disposable. Then danced on the cars #HipHopEd
I was feeling that Glover intentionally made some of those disturbing faces almost to mock white paranoia that gets them to needlessly call police. #HipHopEd
YASS! Can we talk about other popular #HipHop songs that can be paired beautifully with this song/video!? Esp J.Cole's KOD! I love this community #HipHopEd
I’m just finishing a unit on drug addiction/ abuse and the teenage brain with my bio classes, and #ThisisAmerica -as well as other works-such as KOD’s Once an Addict, have allowed my kids to apply their knowledge/conceptual understanding in a far more personal way. #HipHopEd
In reply to
@chrisemdin, @kwymer6, @CSpearsEDU, @Knight3k
Especially when it’s such a powerful visual of realty. Don’t just allow students to respond... create more space for students to explore, challenge, & question the issues in the forefront & constantly playing out in the background. #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
Also the hypocrisy of folks criminalizing and putting Black folks in prison for dealing weed for DECADES and then turning it into a business and making money off of it when it's grown and sold by white folks. #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
Weed as self medication but also as a money maker that was used to criminalize (make your money) only to be later legalized for others to profit. #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
Thoughts on “I’m so fitted, I’m all Gucci...” Could this be calling out those celebrities who are leaving their brothers and sisters in the dust? #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
this is one of the most frustrating things about doing work in schools. It always makes me sad when I am reminded of how students are encouraged to think and honor their own true voices. :-( #hiphoped Salute to the teachers who fight the status quo!
In many school settings the teacher will have to lay out the ground rules that watching “This is America” is a higher end thinking exercise where there is rarely a clear right or wrong answer. Schools don’t promote true student voice #HipHopEd
What do you suppose the reference was in relation to the fact that his grandma told him to get your money? Is it a reference grandmothers raising their grandchildren? #hiphoped
Especially when it’s such a powerful visual of reality. Don’t just allow students to respond... create more space for students to explore, challenge, & question the issues in the forefront & constantly playing out in the background. #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
#HipHopEd#ThisisAmerica also gives us an opportunity to observe the culture of HH even after the distractions last week the kids our Ss push the culture forward they are just as important or more than the songs,lyrics, or iconic artists
Sza's cameo. She's a woman. She's silent. She's watching us and the action and looking gorgeous while doing it. Could her cameo be a commentary on black women being forced into the "I'm so pretty" role? No adlibs from her. Seen but not heard?#hiphoped#ThisIsAmerica
The kids dancing background made me think about how many of our kids wanting to be like celebrities could lead to the demise of our communities. #ThisIsAmerica#HipHopEd
Gives context to @JColeNC ‘s comments on “1985” blaming young rappers for feeding stereotypes. Which, while true, misses the importance of those behaviors for the individual within a world of no mental health services #HipHopEd
I love that he used a “trap” beat. If every move in this track & video is intentional then what might this mean? America itself is a trap. Also, it could be a critique of what “real” hip hop is. #hiphoped
Watched #ThisIsAmerica . Can understand hype. Its dance through imagery of Black death should be familiar to anyone with TV, Internet, PlayStation or XBox. Wonder if #ChildishGambino praise would be same if he were dancing through with white school kids and killing white choirs?
My students could absolutely all tell you with thunderous reply that the answer is yes. I walk with many of my kids to the bus stop after school, and many of them light up after school is over. In their chaos of life, it is sadly one of their only sources of calm. #HipHopEd
#ThisIsAmerica The Get Out pull away of the camera before the running scene had me like "Whoa! They got me! Actually they got us" even when you think you got it you don't. #HipHopEd
I also felt that Donald was “the man” in the first half of the video Jim Crow running around causing chaos while keeping everyone distracted only for folks to get fed up at the end #HipHopEd
I'm also stuck on the dancing among the chaos: Is it distraction to keep us away from addressing systemic issues, or does it show us that brilliance happens despite the chaos. #hiphoped#thisisamerica
I could see that. I can also see it as a comment on how people are quick to adopt the “cool” aspects of a culture while simultaneously choosing to ignore some of the darkest parts. #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
In many ways @donaldglover and @JColeNC are giving a similar critique to young artists but one uses words exclusively and the other visually. Discuss the impact of how these messages are given and received #HipHopEd
How about everybody running when Glover held his hand out like a gun? Like so many black men who have been shot when they didn’t even have a weapon... #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
That's how I viewed it. Grandmothers are the matriarchs of the Black family in so many ways. But there is chasm between the grandmother's wisdom and the manifestation of the actions of a generation removed. #hiphoped
I love that he used a “trap” beat. If every move in this track & video is intentional then what might this mean? America itself is a trap. Also, it could be a critique of what “real” hip hop is. #hiphoped
In the video, the only faces to be seen clearly by the camera, other than Glover’s, and live are children. The choir and guitarist were all shot. We need to focus on saving the youth from the cycles adults have created. They need to be the clear focus. #HipHopEd
Don’t even get me started... That is an issue of great passion to me, and I feel like - in the absence of my students having access to quality therapists - half of my job has turned into being a counselor and therapist for my kids. Mental health is so important #HipHopEd
Also felt that moment of peace when he lit up his blunt was showing how weed is an escape for a lot of our young men from the trauma and chaos of this world #HipHopEd
That's what I'm thinking. Taking a look at the way history influences the present and the impact that growing up here has on the psyche. Specifically "Hold Up" "Freedom" "Forward" and "Formation"... #HipHopEd
I wonder what it would look like to bring students together from diff parts of the world. I saw it trending in at least 8 different countries at once! #hiphopisglobal#ThisIsAmerica#hipHoped
The "Get your money" refrain in #ThisIsAmerica is about the false notion that financial stability erases or absolves us from the horrors of society #HipHopEd
"Why do you think Donald Glover was running at the end?" Great reflection question for the kids. No right or wrong response. 100 for completion. #ThisIsAmerica#HipHopEd
I wonder what it would look like to bring students together from diff parts of the world. I saw it trending in at least 8 different countries at once! #hiphopisglobal#ThisIsAmerica#hipHoped
In the video, the only faces to be seen clearly by the camera, other than Glover’s, and live are children. The choir and guitarist were all shot. We need to focus on saving the youth from the cycles adults have created. They need to be the clear focus. #HipHopEd
Hunnid bands x3 and Contraband x3 Gucci Gang reference? Industry and artists speaking truth of the trap life, but (inadvertently?) glorifying it, our Ss encouraged to pursue the same. #HipHopEd#ThisIsAmerica
Sza's cameo. She's a woman. She's silent. She's watching us and the action and looking gorgeous while doing it. Could her cameo be a commentary on black women being forced into the "I'm so pretty" role? No adlibs from her. Seen but not heard?#hiphoped#ThisIsAmerica
Also felt that moment of peace when he lit up his blunt was showing how weed is an escape for a lot of our young men from the trauma and chaos of this world #HipHopEd
Listening to the song devoid of the visual is an equal an experience as the video. We thank @ltsGambino for this much needed infusion into our culture #HipHopEd
Coping with pain and stress isn’t supposed to be pretty. Hip hop has grown so much that images of pain and stress are everywhere, but are then mistaken as simply a performance. #hiphoped
In my dreams some of the teachers here are on Hot 97's in the country talking about what's being shared here! Adults need this convo too! Love hearing what yall are doing in the classroom! #ThisIsAmerica#HipHopEd
In the video, the only faces to be seen clearly by the camera, other than Glover’s, and live are children. The choir and guitarist were all shot. We need to focus on saving the youth from the cycles adults have created. They need to be the clear focus. #HipHopEd
discussing #ThisIsAmerica w/students on Thursday - had to miss the #HipHopEd discussion tonight but will definitely go through the convo - thanks for the work tonight, folks
They say she’s lady liberty and she’s sitting on a car that looks like Rodney Kings car. Could Lady Liberty be taunting us at the lack of justice we receive? #HipHopEd
Don’t even get me started... That is an issue of great passion to me, and I feel like - in the absence of my students having access to quality therapists - half of my job has turned into being a counselor and therapist for my kids. Mental health is so important #HipHopEd
I wonder what it would look like to bring students together from diff parts of the world. I saw it trending in at least 8 different countries at once! #hiphopisglobal#ThisIsAmerica#hipHoped
Now that needs a whole 'nother hour of analysis....that's deep... #HipHopEd
Thanks to reading @ValerieKinloch's work lately...I've been examining what our students' performances of resistance are through the academic and behavior demands we make of them daily.
Absolutely. It is a brilliant piece of satire that should rightfully earn a place in the halls of critical acclaim. An entire class could be taught about all of the allusions, metaphors, allegory, etc. he packed into that one song. #HipHopEd
His back = Gordon’s back (the picture of the brutalized enslaved man). Everything that follows, follows slavery and the challenge for America of recognizing the humanity of POC. #HipHopEd
Gosh, so true! Especially when the slim amount of pathways publically acknowledged for young people often require their buy-in to stereotypical performances that only facilitate more pain #HipHopEd
The running at the end of the 'This is America" video connected to Tupac's disgust with running as expressed in Juice connected with NWA's 100 miles and running is a great mini set of lessons #HipHopEd
So many ways to use #ThisIsAmerica in Educational settings. BUT before that, how about we address the fact that it is crucial as educators to understand what are students are listening to, the general understanding of the artist, and HOW our students feel about it. #HipHopEd
