....goes to Harvard for recently hosting a Conference on "The Role of African Hip Hop." The conference was held on March 13-15 2008. The two-day event featured African Hip Hop artists and panelists from across the Dispora. Check out the conference details at: http://www.africanhiphopproject.org/Conference/.
Thanks to my homegirl and colleague Del Hornbuckle, filmaker and Associate Director for Access Services in the Baker Library at the Harvard Business School for giving me a heads up about this conference as Cornell University Library plans its own.
Personal thanks to the sponsors and supporters of the Harvard Conference for recognizing the importance of Hip Hop in global cultures "not only as an art form but as a cultural force that shapes youth culture and affects social change globally." I wish I coulda been there.
One Luv,
Ira
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Positive Progress...Update on the Cornell Fall '08 Hip Hop Conference
Setting the stage...
This morning, Cornell library and archives staff, graduate students; Ithaca community members, and Ithaca College faculty met to discuss how to make a successful fall CORNELL HIP HOP CONFERENCE. The CONFERENCE DATES are October 31 and November 1, 2008. The events will be held at the Alice Statler Hotel and Auditorium on the campus of Cornell University. Additional events will be held off-campus in the Ithaca community to celebrate the opening of the new HIP HOP COLLECTION in the Cornell University Division of Rare a
nd Manuscript Collections.
Eldred Harris, J.D. who grew up in the South Bronx during the 1970's, Sean Everley-Bradwell an Assistant Professor in the Ithaca College Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, Danielle Heard, Ph.D. candidate in the Cornell University Department of English, and Vernon Mitchell Jr., Ph.D. candidate in the Cornell University Department of History explained how important is was to move the scholarly discussion about Hip Hop away from the promotion of discourse about the commodification of rap music, mysogeny, and the role that the majority culture plays in disseminating rap music. Though we all agree that these are all very important areas for exploration and much debate has taken place in the literature over the past decade about these issues - we must now begin to circle back around to conversations about the vast socio-economic, political, and cultural circumstances surrounding the origins of the movement. Lest we believe, we make the same mistakes again or continue to ignore the pressing reality that our youth live in America today. We must begin to understand Hip Hop in its original context.
The rose that grew from concrete...
Professor Margaret Washington from the CU Department of History pointed out, "you can't really have a di
scussion about Hip Hop without discussing Afeni Shakur and TuPac and the circumstances surrounding the young black male." I agree. A discussion about Hip Hop begins by acknowledging the situation of the young black male and female for that matter, moves through environments such as the South Bronx in the late sixties, New Orleans nearly forty years earlier with Louis Armstrong, to cities such as the South Side of Chicago during the forties, or rural Alabama today. Location sets the stage for the creation of something out of nothing. The South Bronx was the stage upon which a global movement was born.
Hip Hop transcends! It transcends physical location, race, religion, and ways and means because it is a people's movement. Without understanding the role that the people play in Hip Hop; whether they are in the South Bronx in 1969 or in Berlin or Brazil today - we cannot have a legitimate discussion about the origins of the five elements: MC'ing, DJ'ing, Grafitti, Beatboxing, or Breakdancing (or the numerous other elements that Crazy Legs among other Hip Hop luminaries argues exist).
Today I was satisfied that our discussion was a pivotal first step towards the beginning of a different conversation about Hip Hop. Our discussions today reminded everyone who was present to keep the conversation and story-telling about Hip Hop honest and pure. It reminded us to ask whose his/herstory is this?, where does this story take place?, why is this story recorded?, who recorded it and what does this interpretation contribute or dismiss?, and finally, what does it mean to begin to archive the first decade of this cultural phenomenon?
We welcome your feedback as we try to pay homeage to the skill, sacrifice, and creativity of the many youth who walked before us and those whom we're still blessed to have among us.
~Ira
This morning, Cornell library and archives staff, graduate students; Ithaca community members, and Ithaca College faculty met to discuss how to make a successful fall CORNELL HIP HOP CONFERENCE. The CONFERENCE DATES are October 31 and November 1, 2008. The events will be held at the Alice Statler Hotel and Auditorium on the campus of Cornell University. Additional events will be held off-campus in the Ithaca community to celebrate the opening of the new HIP HOP COLLECTION in the Cornell University Division of Rare a
nd Manuscript Collections.Eldred Harris, J.D. who grew up in the South Bronx during the 1970's, Sean Everley-Bradwell an Assistant Professor in the Ithaca College Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, Danielle Heard, Ph.D. candidate in the Cornell University Department of English, and Vernon Mitchell Jr., Ph.D. candidate in the Cornell University Department of History explained how important is was to move the scholarly discussion about Hip Hop away from the promotion of discourse about the commodification of rap music, mysogeny, and the role that the majority culture plays in disseminating rap music. Though we all agree that these are all very important areas for exploration and much debate has taken place in the literature over the past decade about these issues - we must now begin to circle back around to conversations about the vast socio-economic, political, and cultural circumstances surrounding the origins of the movement. Lest we believe, we make the same mistakes again or continue to ignore the pressing reality that our youth live in America today. We must begin to understand Hip Hop in its original context.
The rose that grew from concrete...
Professor Margaret Washington from the CU Department of History pointed out, "you can't really have a di
scussion about Hip Hop without discussing Afeni Shakur and TuPac and the circumstances surrounding the young black male." I agree. A discussion about Hip Hop begins by acknowledging the situation of the young black male and female for that matter, moves through environments such as the South Bronx in the late sixties, New Orleans nearly forty years earlier with Louis Armstrong, to cities such as the South Side of Chicago during the forties, or rural Alabama today. Location sets the stage for the creation of something out of nothing. The South Bronx was the stage upon which a global movement was born.Hip Hop transcends! It transcends physical location, race, religion, and ways and means because it is a people's movement. Without understanding the role that the people play in Hip Hop; whether they are in the South Bronx in 1969 or in Berlin or Brazil today - we cannot have a legitimate discussion about the origins of the five elements: MC'ing, DJ'ing, Grafitti, Beatboxing, or Breakdancing (or the numerous other elements that Crazy Legs among other Hip Hop luminaries argues exist).
Today I was satisfied that our discussion was a pivotal first step towards the beginning of a different conversation about Hip Hop. Our discussions today reminded everyone who was present to keep the conversation and story-telling about Hip Hop honest and pure. It reminded us to ask whose his/herstory is this?, where does this story take place?, why is this story recorded?, who recorded it and what does this interpretation contribute or dismiss?, and finally, what does it mean to begin to archive the first decade of this cultural phenomenon?
We welcome your feedback as we try to pay homeage to the skill, sacrifice, and creativity of the many youth who walked before us and those whom we're still blessed to have among us.
~Ira
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
