Hip Hop Genius: Remixing High School Education

learn more and get the book at http://www.hiphopgenius.org
follow on twitter at http://twitter.com/husslington

this video illustrates (literally!) the concept of Hip Hop Genius. these ideas are explored more fully in sam seidel's book, Hip Hop Genius: Remixing High School Education (hiphopgenius.org)

the drawings were done by Mike McCarthy, a student at College Unbound (collegeunbound.org), a school that exemplifies many of the values espoused in the film. the entire video was shot in College Unbound's seminar space, where Mike has built a studio for his company Drawn Along (drawnalong.com).

the end sequence was shot by Graham Wheeler, a recent graduate of the East Bay Met (eastbaymet.org), a high school that also embodies many of the principles of Hip Hop Genius. Graham and Mike edited the whole video as well.

the beat at the end was made by DJ Tek, who worked with sam at the AS220 Broad Street Studio (as220.org/​youth)... their work there was the genesis of much of the thinking about Hip Hop Genius. several of the young people in the video are or have been affiliated with that program.

Tim Natividad collaborated with sam on the ideation and writing.

big shouts to everyone who appears in the video and to everyone who came through, but didn't make it in; big shouts to David "TC" Ellis, Tony Simmons, and everyone at the High School for Recording Arts (hsra.org); and big shouts to the whole Hip Hop Genius crew. check us out at HIPHOPGENIUS.org

Quando avevo 20 anni ho iniziato ad
insegnare in un carcere giovanile.

Erano molte le cose che separavano
me dai miei studenti

ma ho presto scoperto un grande
interesse in comune con loro:

il nostro amore per l'hip-hop.

Da lì in poi la musica rap è diventato
l'argomento principale delle mie lezioni

e ho visto studenti disadattati emergere
come leader ed esperti.

Usando elementi della cultura
hip-hop

i miei studenti ed io abbiamo imparato
ad usare il linguaggio, a stare al mondo

e ad amare gli altri e noi stessi di più.

Osservando come il nostro sistma scolastico
è attrezzato per scoraggiare

studenti afroamericani, latinoamericani
e appartenenti ai ceti bassi,

mi sono chiesto cos'altro noi educatori
potremmo imparare dall'hip-hop

un fenomeno globale nuovo e
fortemente contagioso

nato proprio da queste comunità.

Quando dico hip-hop non intendo solo musica