Teaching for Liberation: On Freedom Dreaming in the Field of Hip-Hop Education

In celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, the authors interviewed scholars and community-engaged educators who have contributed to the field of hiphop and education with the goal of reflecting on established research and activism within the field of hip-hop and education. Hip-hop is a culture and art form that was created to advocate and share the experiences and expressions of groups who have been pushed to the margins of society by oppressive practices. Since the 1970s, hip-hop has evolved to become a culture that transcends global borders and all industries including education. The field of hip-hop and education continues to contribute to educational research with innovative concepts and philosophies, scholars have and continue to interrogate how hip-hop can be used and incorporated across all educational spaces.

In this text, scholars and educators were given an opportunity radically dream about the future of hip-hop and education. Their thoughts and perspectives were analyzed and interrogated through the context of educational research. The authors hope that this text serves as a pathway towards not just dismantling oppressive educational structures but dreaming and building what empowering and liberatory education through hip-hop could be across all educational spaces.

Dr. Edmund Adjapong, is an associate professor in the Educational Studies Department at Seton Hall University. Dr. Adjapong is a STEM and Urban Education advocate whose work and research address issues of race, class, inequities in education, and misperceptions of urban youth. His current focus is on how to incorporate youth culture into educational spaces, specifically on utilizing hip-hop culture and sensibilities as an approach to teaching and learning.

Dr. Kelly Allen is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum Studies in the College of Education and Human Development at Augusta University. Dr. Allen’s work and research is interested in the disruption of racism and inequities in education. Currently, her work examines the intersection of culture, race, curriculum, and pedagogy, especially in the implementation of hip-hop education.