Event: African Underground: Democracy in Dekar
Organizer: The Center For Multicultural Education and Social Justice
November 22, 2008 7-9:30
This event examined the influence of Hip Hop on the 2007 elections in Dakar, Senegal. It opened up with a Senagalese Hip Hop artist giving a brief overview of what the night would consist of and then performing a few of his raps. One of them discussed the difficulties of living in the ghetto and the other talking about one of his friends immigrating to the United States and being so excited and passionate about America yet fearing that he would be deported because he had come illegally.
We then watched a documentary exploring Hip Hop and how the Senagalese youth used it as a way to communicate with the population to raise awareness about what the country needed. In 2000, after 40 years of socialist rule, a new leader was elected symbolizing that change would come. However, conditions in the nation didn't get better and many suffered. In 2007, the new elections were held. Hip Hop artists used their music to promote change. They rapped about how life was difficult and that the only way to better the conditions was to take action and not re-elect the leader that they have had. Hip hop artists were targeted by the government however they continued to use their music as a way to be active and advocate for what they believed in. Unfortunately, however, the leader that had been in place for 7 years was re-elected. It was a shock for the entire country because it was the first time that a person was elected with more than 50% of the vote.
I found this event to be really interesting. Although the outcome was not what I expected it to be, it still sends the message that one needs to be the change that they want to see. It was interesting to see that Hip Hop was the way that the youth tried to get their message across. I feel that in the US, Hip Hop has more of a negative reputation. However, it goes to show what kinds of things that people could use to promote change. As a future teacher, maybe hip hop could be incorporated in to lessons as a form of expression. This may be an interest to some students. Aside from this, I think that the general message that the event sent out was important. The general message is that if you want change and if there is something that you want, you need to be active. It's important to teach our students to take action and stand for what they believe in.
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4 comments:
This sounds so interesting... I wished I could have gone.
The idea of using Hip-Hop and Rap as a way to communicate with their population and raise awareness about the needs of the country, really popped out to me. It really shows that music is a great way to reach out to people and get them to listen to your message. This is definitely the roots of Hip-Hop and when it's not commodified to what we see out on the media, it is still the same. Got me thinking of Reggae and how it was (partly) a way to protest and talk about injustice and life struggles.
The idea of being active for change is really important. We often want things to change, talk about it, and never really do anything about it; so I think that was a great message. And incorporating Rap in to the classroom is great, there is something about it that students (well the ones I have had in my placement) love. They get excited about it and having something to say (a message) through their Rap and really get involved in these activities.
This does sound really interesting. I agree that rap and hip-hop is often seen as something promoting negative values, which it too often does. However, it is really inspiring to hear that people are using rap and hip-hop to create a positive change because it is obviously a very powerful medium. Using hip-hop in the classroom can show students it can be used to help solve problems in their community and that this will then help change the perception of hip-hop.
This event is very similar to "I love Hip Hop in Morocco" which I went to. I found that young people all over the world love Hip Hop and Rap. They often use these music styles to voice their opinions and hopes for change. This event also reminds me of the math meeting we went to last year, a math teacher use Hip Hop to help children memorize complicated math concepts. As we all know children lose interests in math, but grow much more interests in music, especially Hip Hop and Rap. So we as future teacher definitely need to change the traditionally negative view at Hip Hop and Rap, but use these music style as a tool to reach our students.
I definitely agree with your final message, that taking action for what you believe in should be encouraged in the classroom. This documentary sounds like a wonderful teaching tool, particularly because the outcome of the election was unexpected. Such an outcome demonstrates to students that we are sometimes faced with disappointments, but we should continue to strive for change. What I also really love about this event is the concept of music as a means of creating change. It is a peaceful, yet powerful way of spreading the message. Especially with children, music is catchy- people often recall songs they sang in elementary school or in their youth. Therefore, teaching students about social justice through music will strengthen their enduring understandings.
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