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Duke brings Hip Hop to Durham middle school classroom

Duke students taught sixth graders in Deja Simms’ class at Neal Middle School as part of Kisha Daniels’ Critical Pedagogy of Hip Hop course. The students are helping the middle schoolers learn vocabulary and write lyrics for an original hip hop song. The course is also part of a Bass connections program: Hip Hop Pedagogies. The course examines the role of critical pedagogy in developing learning environments that engage and empower youth. Emphasis is placed on the context of hip hop as a foundation for instructional decision-making and social justice advocacy/activism.

Watch the video here

Read more about it in Duke Today

Brazilian Hip Hop Occupies the Classroom! Durham, Asheville, and Athens, Ga

From the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies website

In a whirlwind visit, the Brazilian rapper Dudu de Morro Agudo from the urban periphery Rio de Janeiro shared his liberatory RapLab model of Hip Hop Education with students in middle, high school, and university classrooms.

A joint initiative  of Duke and North Carolina Central University, the AY2023-24 Bass Connections project on “Hip Hop Pedagogies” got a chance to see in action the innovative approach to education honed by the community organization Instituto Enraizados (Institute of the Rooted), which he leads.

Working with Dr. Kisha Daniels (Program in Education), Duke students used RapLab techniques this spring semester in a class at Neale Middle School where Dudu joined the students on two successive Fridays, the second to record their songs.

Presenting with the team at a conference in Asheville, North Carolina, Dudu and team members also met with local rappers in Durham and spent two days with the Hip Hop Scene in Athens, Ga., led by Montu Miller, including visits to a high school, an ambitious training center for youth, and participated in a monthly open mike event with 120 participants.

Sharing his wealth of experience and educational philosophy, all who came in contact with Dudu de Morro Agudo during his April 4-14, 2024 tour were left wiser, more attuned to the problems we face, and even more convinced that change is not only possible but imperative in today’s world.

For more on the background of this collaboration:  https://bassconnections.duke.edu/about/news/hip-hop-education-and-inspiration-brazil-and-united-states

For examples of the contagious Hip Hop at Enraizados, see the ten minute video shot during our team’s August 2024 Bass Connections field trip to Rio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqbr4Si87_o

For more information, contact Duke project co-directors John D. French or Courtney Crumpler: jdfrench@duke.edu and Courtney.crumpler@duke.edu.

Imersão Enraizados: Um encontro cultural entre Chile, Estados Unidos e Brasil no Quilombo Enraizados, em Nova Iguaçu, na próxima terça

Na próxima terça-feira, 13 de agosto, o Quilombo Enraizados sediará uma atividade cultural especial intitulada “Imersão Enraizados”.

Esta imersão é composta por uma série de atividades realizadas por artistas e ativistas do Instituto Enraizados com o objetivo de apresentar a instituição para parceiros e visitantes.

A programação inclui um café da manhã, que oferece uma oportunidade para interação com os anfitriões, seguido por um tour pelas instalações do Quilombo. Em seguida, haverá uma apresentação formal dos projetos desenvolvidos pelo instituto, culminando em um mix de atividades culturais, como exposições, sarau de poesias e uma batalha de rimas.

Tour pelas instalações do Quilombo Enraizados.

A Imersão Enraizados é aberta ao público, permitindo que qualquer pessoa interessada participe, desde que se inscreva previamente com a equipe do Instituto através do whatsapp (21)9.6566-8219.

Nesta edição, estarão presentes a produtora cultural Fabiana Menini, de Porto Alegre, o rapper chileno MC Egrosone e o produtor musical chileno Mauro QuJota, além de uma comitiva de seis estudantes da Duke University, liderada pelo historiador e professor Dr. John French.

Continued at enraizados.com.br

Dia do Folclore: Troca de saberes e culturas entre a Duke University e o CIEP 172

 

No dia 15 de agosto, quinta-feira, o CIEP 172 – Nelson Rodrigues sediará um intercâmbio entre professores e estudantes da escola, alunos da Duke University, e artistas do Instituto Enraizados, como parte do projeto “Activism, Culture and Education for Citizenship in Brazil and the U.S.”.

Este projeto busca unir acadêmicos, artistas e estudantes da Duke University, da North Carolina Central University (NCCU), do Instituto Enraizados, e da Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro. O objetivo é explorar as principais formas de ativismo e organização cultural, abrangendo movimentos negros, feministas e LGBTQ+, a memorialização da escravidão, e as expressões religiosas e musicais locais. Além disso, a equipe do projeto examinará eleições e lutas urbanas e trabalhistas, especialmente entre professores de escolas públicas.

Para este evento, eu, Dudu de Morro Agudo, juntamente com o educador e animador cultural Antônio Feitosa, e o grafiteiro e arte-educador FML, estamos organizando uma celebração em homenagem ao Folclore Brasileiro, que é dia 22 de agosto. Entre as atividades planejadas, teremos uma exposição fotográfica do projeto “Meu Bairro, Meu Ambiente” e um sarau de poesias com artistas do Instituto Enraizados.

Continued at enraizados.com.br

Hip Hop: Project Collaborators Dudu de Morro Agudo (Rio) and Montu Miller (USA) Featured

From Flagpole.com

The month of July is Real Emcees Don’t Rap Over Vocals (#REDROV) month, founded by emcee, hip-hop culture promoter and youth educator Marcel P. Black. It’s one powerful element representative of a bigger movement, just as the Oklahoma-based, by way of Louisiana, rapper’s ties to the Athens music scene are symbolic of the sharing and transference of culture worldwide.

The Stop Rapping Over Vocals Movement, spearheaded by Black, provokes a lot of controversy in online discussions and hip-hop podcasts. However, Black says that live performances are the peak form of self-expression, and not rapping over vocals is his way of keeping that alive. On a deeper level, emceeing is one of the elements of hip-hop culture, and he explains it’s a continuation or extension of the African oral tradition that came to North America by way of the Middle Passage.

“On a strictly rap level, it sounds better and is more impressive/entertaining to your fanbase if you can sound just as good as or better than the recorded track when you perform. Also, it makes you more attractive to talent buyers and booking agents,” says Black.

The Classic City is a stop on Black’s #REDROV tour, bringing his “conscious rap for gangbangers and backpackers” to The World Famous on July 23. He was first invited to Athens for former Athenian Kid Arsenic’s album release show at The World Famous in December 2019. Ever since it’s become a regular stop during his tours.

“I love what Montu [Miller] has done as a facilitator and hip-hop cultural ambassador for the city, and I’m the type of person, if you show me love once, I’m gonna show you love forever until you give me a reason not to. I’ve always had a great time in Athens, so I try to come back as much as possible,” says Black.

Miller, ATHfactor-Liberty Entertainment chief operating officer, is also a well-known hip-hop culture advocate and youth educator. Like Black, who has created curriculums intersecting hip hop, social justice and mental health for middle and high schoolers, Miller has integrated hip hop into his lesson plans as a teacher at Cedar Shoals High School. Finding ways to bridge the world of his students to those in his lessons, an understanding of what culture means is imperative to having culturally-sensitive discussions.

“A lot of my classes are dealing with culture, so dealing with hip-hop culture is having them understand what a culture is and understanding that the way I approach hip hop is through a culture. So they can start to understand hip hop is more than music. It’s a culture. Now we can relate what I meant by hip-hop culture to certain Asian cultures or Latino culture,” says Miller.

Within the school system, Black first got involved in hip-hop education in 2008 managing an after-school program, Teen 360 Hip-Hop University, where kids were taught dance, rap, DJing, art and poetry. This past year, in addition to integrating hip hop into his history classes, Black and a friend started Oklahoma’s first high-school record label. In the coming year, Black will be piloting a hip-hop studies program at Central High School in Tulsa, OK.

Miller explains that the rise and popularity of hip-hop pedagogy has provided new credentials for hip hop, that it’s more than music. In his undergraduate studies at UGA and masters at Piedmont University, Miller says he was able to take his life experiences in hip-hop culture and apply them to his education. It drives new and fresh conversations in the education field, but it also draws outside influences to Athens for a unique exchange of ideas. Brazilian hip-hop artist and youth educator Flávio Eduardo Assis, known as Dudu, visited Athens a few months ago while participating in a scholarly exchange program at Duke University. Dudu sat down with Miller for a recorded conversation about what hip-hop culture and youth outreach looks like in Brazil, then participated in the Beats, Rhymes & Life open mic series hosted by Miller at Hendershot’s. The connection between hip hop and education has created a valuable flow of knowledge and experiences while often proving that our lives, both the challenges and achievements, are not that different from one another.

“People can come to our shows and start to understand our culture and know more so we can actually build these bridges and use them,” says Miller. “Get outside your bubble.”

Read more at https://flagpole.com/music/music-features/2024/07/17/educating-through-hip-hop-culture-marcel-p-black-brings-his-movement-to-athens/

Curso Popular Enraizados: A Importância das Universidades Negras nos EUA, aula inédita com Dra. Gladys Mitchell-Walthour

By Nala Zuri (from enraizados.com)

Na próxima sexta-feira, às 18 horas, o Curso Popular Enraizados terá o privilégio de receber a professora Dra. Gladys Mitchell-Walthour, da North Carolina Central University, para uma aula inédita.

A Dra. Mitchell-Walthour abordará a história e a relevância das universidades historicamente negras nos Estados Unidos, destacando sua importância nos dias atuais. Essas universidades desempenham um papel crucial na educação e no empoderamento da população negra americana, oferecendo oportunidades acadêmicas e culturais que muitas vezes não estão disponíveis em outras instituições.

Em sua apresentação, a Dra. Mitchell-Walthour também discutirá as diferenças nos sistemas de admissão universitária entre os Estados Unidos e o Brasil. Nos EUA, ao contrário do Brasil, a consideração de critérios raciais nas admissões universitárias enfrenta restrições constitucionais e legais significativas. Isso torna o papel dessas universidades ainda mais vital, pois elas continuam a ser um refúgio de inclusão e excelência acadêmica para estudantes negros, numa sociedade onde a equidade racial ainda é um desafio constante.

Essa aula promete proporcionar uma reflexão sobre como as instituições de ensino podem influenciar a equidade racial e sobre o impacto das universidades negras no cenário educacional e social americano.

Após a aula haverá o lançamento do filme Hip Hop Pedagogies, gravado na última visita da Dra Gladys Mitchell ao Quilombo Enraizados, em agosto de 2023.

Read more / consulte mais informação

 

Hip-Hop As Education and Inspiration in Brazil and the United States

Hip Hop Pedagogies group photo in Brazil 2023

By: Axelle Miel (Political Science and Music ’24)

Project Roots

The seeds of the Hip-Hop Pedagogies: Education for Citizenship in Brazil and the United States were planted in the early 1990s when Duke historian John French met Alexandre Fortes and Álvaro Nascimento, two doctoral students from Brazil. The three connected through their shared interest in Brazilian labor and class politics and, later, their investment in the community in and around the Baixada Fluminense, a region on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro that is predominantly composed of young people and residents of African descent.

The trio stayed connected as Fortes and Nascimento finished their degrees and began teaching at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, and in 2016, they decided to kick off a Bass Connections project on higher education expansion in Brazil, focused specifically on the Baixada Fluminense.

Over three years, this interinstitutional project team conducted research directed toward fostering social mobility in the region. They interviewed students and faculty, carried out surveys, led focus groups and produced a 27-minute documentary. Three doctoral dissertations emerged from the project as did several undergraduate theses and yearly conferences that showcased the team’s research to both academic and public communities.

Read more on the Bass Connections website