Black Noise by Tricia Rose Pg. 33 “Depictions of black and Hispanic neighborhoods were drained of life, energy, and vitality. The message was loud and clear: to be stuck here was to be lost.”
Performing Identity/Performing Culture by Greg Dimitriadis
Pg. 2 “…young people today are using these texts to construct locally validated selves and senses of community, linked to shared notions of what it means to be black and marginalized in the United States…”
The Crunk Feminist Collective edited by Brittney Cooper, Susana Morris, and Robin Boylorn
Pg. 169 “Black feminism taught us to love ourselves, to fight for our revolution, and to prioritize our own freedom.”
The Crunk Feminist Collective edited by Brittney Cooper, Susana Morris, and Robin Boylorn
Pg. 171 “Hip hop reshapes the terrain of Black feminism, making it responsive to the political and cultural realities of women and girls born in the late twentieth century And Black feminism reshapes the landscape of hip hop, pushing it to realize and elevate its political promise and possibility. So, with our oars of love, generosity, and respect for both these parts of ourselves, we row and wade our way through the choppy waters, knowing that we were made for the journey.”
Black Girlhood Celebration: Towards a Hip Hop Feminist Pedagogy by Ruth Nicole Brown
Pg. 139 “I always say feminism is a noun, but it’s really a verb, like you gotta do something, you know what I mean? (Morgan and Neal, 2007, p. 244)”
Black Girlhood Celebration: Towards a Hip Hop Feminist Pedagogy by Ruth Nicole Brown
Pg. 139-140 “Hip-hop feminist pedagogy is a space created to employ ways of being, knowing, and questions that are unique (though not exclusive to) our generation’s experiences about what it means to be and grow in-between the intersections of race, class, gender, age, and sexuality as mediated by hip-hop, feminism, and education.”
Graffiti Grrlz Performing Feminism in the Hip Hop Diaspora by Dr. Jessica PabónPg. 46 “Feminist masculinity is a gender performance characterized by the utilization of recognizably masculine traits (aggression, ownership of public space, braggadocio) for feminist means (community building, self-empowerment, peer support).”
Graffiti Grrlz Performing Feminism in the Hip Hop Diaspora by Dr. Jessica Pabón
Pg. 47 “[Feminist masculinity] is a contextually specific enactment of self that embraces the complexity of gender expression…an ongoing performance, a constant negotiation with the “representations and narratives” that structure their place withing graffiti subculture and society at large”
Hip Hop Feminism by Joan Morgan
Pg. 278 “I was reminded how feminism’s ivory tower elitism excluded the masses.”
Hip Hop Feminism by Joan Morgan
Pg. 278 “White women’s racism and the Feminist Movement may explain the justifiable bad taste the f-word [feminism] leaves in the mouths of women over thirty-five, but for my generation they are abstractions drawn from someone else’s history.”
At the start of the semester I was unsure what to expect. Not only did I have limited experience with hip hop music and its history, but also adding gender and sexuality into the mix made the subject area even more esoteric.
Through the readings and assignments, not only have I learned the history of hip hop, I am able to connect it to the struggles of black, brown and indigenous peoples. I see connections in the music and culture to feminism, masculinity, and sexuality. I was able to grasp the big picture throughout the class and I’ve selected quotes that I feel narrated some of the feminist ideas through the lens of the push and pull between hip hop and Black feminism.
I start the collection with a quote from one of our first readings, Black Noise by Tricia Rose. This quote about the South Bronx in the 1980’s, along with watching The Get Down, helped me visualize the struggle that is the foundation of hip hop music. Connecting to the second quote by Dimitriadis, hip hop was invented by children. It was and still is a way for those kids to feel seen in, and connected to, the world. These two quotes set the scene for hip hop feminism.
The third quote, from one of my favorite class readings The Crunk Feminist Collevtive, starts the string of feminism related quotes with a confident message of love, revolution, and freedom through Black feminism. Later quoting Joan Morgan, I was able to read about the feminist movement in the 1960’s and 70’s and reflect on the feminist ideas I’ve known.
I put the second quote from The Crunk Feminist Collective before Morgan and Neal’s from Brown’s book for a reason. I believe they flow well from one to the other. I felt the Collective quote was a gathering of people, a call out for introspection. What is the purpose? How can we use Black feminism and hip hop together? Emphasis on use. Therefore, feminism is a verb, an action word, a doing. Not just a thing! Black and brown women have been creating their own collectives such as Nami and SOLHOT, and even created their own graffiti magazines. They had to, and continue to have to create their own place in a space ruled by the heterosexist, patriarchal, white supremacist world.
I felt this call to action naturally transitions to more information about hip hop feminism and feminist masculinity. These next few quotes from Brown and Pabón tie the ideas of action, reaction, aspects of hip hop, and togetherness into one message. Now that we understand hip hop feminism more, we must look inside ourselves and find the want, the need to love and teach others. To paint alongside other women, and stand up for one another. Not just for ourselves, but for the next generation of hip hoppers, the next generation of feminists. We need to teach them Black feminism and hip hop feminism. We need to teach them the truth. Hip hop layers and samples from many points of view, feminism needs to do the same.
Thank you.
