User:C N R1993

Hello! I'm a student at Hunter college in New York. I am a Media major and Africana/Latino studies minor currently enrolled in a Hip Hop culture course, here to edit related articles.

FINAL REFLECTIONS ON WIKIEDU: AFPRL290.26

1. What did you learn about hip-hop from the assignments and study of this course?

The course did well in presenting the social, political, and academic aspects of hip-hop and encouraged a critical discussion of who has historically been associated with the genre, those who have been left out, and what consequences these frameworks have in generated a complete picture of the movement.

2.    What did you learn about deliberate practice or paraphrasing existing work or They Say/ I Say templates and study?

The ideas of deliberate practice that were addressed in class allowed for students to reflect on previous work ethics they have implemented within their college careers, identify where they may have fallen short, and how they can become more accountable for their action in a way that directly benefits them long term. The They Say/ I Say template provided an easier method in presenting information and harbors a more accurate way for me to express scholarly thoughts.

3.      From the reading of your chosen book, what did you learn that more of your peers or parents should know about hip-hop history and culture.

The unfortunate truth for many hip-hop consumers is the lack of reflection on misogynistic content in both lyrics and music videos. Despite the in your face gangsta rap pornographic imagery of the 90’s, the female perspective on this matter has taken a backseat due to the corporate profitability associated with the objectification of black females. Tricia Rose’s Black Noise speaks to the complexity of black female sexuality while also going a step further in explaining misogynistic attitudes in black culture, writing that it was not solely derived from hip-hop and calling to attention the need to examine the political environment that has gave way to frustrations among young black men. I would share with peers or parents the idea that since historically American policies have restricted African Americans from the ability to claim resources at an equal pace as their white counterparts, discriminatory practices couples with poor education has left individuals with little means to create a self identity. To fill those voids, men look to assert their masculinity through dominated women; this is a social problem that did not develop from rap imagery but has been perpetuated by it.

4.       Why should students edit Wikipedia? Why edit hip-hip article on Wikipedia?

This course has taught me the value of Wikipedia by highlighting the notion that history is incomplete when told through once voice or one ideological lens. Crowd sourcing information allows the freedom for individuals to contribute to various topics in a meaningful way because is to does exclude opinions so long as they are cited and properly supported. Wikipedia can be empowering because it allows you to actively make the changes in the distribution of information that you’d like to see. Hip-Hop by nature is a culmination of various technologies, practices, styles, and perceptions; because of it’s complexity it is necessary to have a broad account of its evolution. Within the course we spoke about implicit bias and how that related to Wikipedia’s production of information. Because the demographic of contributor/ editor is a educated, technologically savvy, white male, it is important for women to be more active so that he spectrum of opinion is broader and more inclusive. I think a major takeaway from the course was the realization of women’s representation in hip hop and how Wikipedia can be used to resolve those issues.

5.       What could Wikipedia editors learn from hip-hop history, culture and aesthetics?

Although I did not run into this much within my own experience editing Wikipedia, student in class expressed concern when their edits were reverted or deleted without proper discussion. Wikipedia editors perhaps could learn from hip hop cypher processes in building upon people's work rather than criticising it or completely shutting it down.

6.        Why study the field of hip-hop history and culture today or now? What aspects of the culture would assist our society or our education?

In order to gain a fuller understanding of American history one must delve into the cultural progression of African Americans. For example the birth of jazz sprang forth from the political climate of Louisiana in New Orleans, implementing field holler aesthetics into the blues and acting as a creative outlet for blacks to express their troubling experience within a discriminatory and hostile country that actively worked to undermine their existence. African American history can be described as one of immense perseverance and has continually been met with opposition and perhaps even worse commodification for profit. Just has the rich culture of jazz was born from the struggles of black communities, hip-hop provided communities with a constructive and highly creative culture that in many ways can be argued, helped people combat the harsh realities they could not escape. As aspect that would benefit our society would be one of the fundamental principles of hip-hop, knowledge and the knowing of one’s self. Afrika Bambaataa’s approach to uniform communities speaks to the idea of a strength in numbers; his work to promote education and minimize violence still stands as a beneficial ideal.

7.      What would you suggest adding to the course? What should the professor start doing, stop doing, and/ or continue doing? What should students start doing, stop doing, continue doing in this course?

One thing that I’ve expressed is the desire to engage more with the culture of hip-hop by perhaps going to a show or having one-on-one with individuals who are actively participating in the scene. One of highlights of the course for me was to have read a scholarly article and then video chat with the author in class and ask him questions. I think Professor Gaunt may help students by making all assignments visible at the beginning of the semester so that the ideal of falling behind can be managed better. I think that sharing music we liked was a great way to communicate with classmates and get to know them better, and maybe if it had be done earlier on in the semester, would have allowed for a better understanding of where people’s comments were coming from.

8.   What did you learn from the cyphers and the Foucault remix assignment?

I learned that the creative process is vastly different for everyone. The Foucault assignment especially helped to show how many different perspectives of hip-hop there are, and how we all absorb music and images in unique ways.

9.     How did race/or gender factor into what you learned? What did you learn about systemic bias, if anything?

The course reflected ideas of race and bias that I already had but also helped me find examples of where those take shape in popular media. I have a significantly better understanding of the intersectionality of the black female experience and how under represented their perspectives are. When coming to terms with the idea what much of our historical documentation has been written by affluent white men, it encourages me to take an active role in changing that dynamic.

10.

Typically it has been my experience that when learning about history in an academic setting, the discussion is primarily on facts and documented first hand accounts. What a hip-hop course such as this provided was a space for historical insight met with social experiences that raised ethical questions that developed into discussion that were a direct critique of our culture as a whole. Hip-hop is political, social, technological, creative, and inclusive. Much of the creativity we see today comes from art that is distributed digitally, where many individuals are exposed to it through social media or sites such as Google; what this means is that corporations are intertwined in our means of expression as well as our ability to access a wide spectrum of information. Hip-hop's move into a commodified industry can be used as a metaphor for how our collective creativity is being forced into these framework, bringing forth the question of what consequences will this have for society as a whole especially with the increase of copyright issues, as well as censorship.