Name of event: I Love Hip Hop in Morocco
Organizer and location of event: Joshua Asen, Louis Cristillo, and Hisham Aidi
Teacher’s College, Columbia University
7-10 pm
Amount of hours of event: 3 hours
On Wednesday, I attended a film screening and discussion titled I Love Hip Hop in Morocco. Co-filmed by Joshua Asen, the central theme of the film focused on the effects of American hip hop in Morocco, particularly the Moroccan. It is a documentary of the first ever hip hop festival – from the conception of the idea to birth. The youth of Morocco view hip hop as a cultural phenomenon that serves as a vehicle for expression for those who are oppressed and marginalized by the system set in place (rule by an absolute king). Throughout the documentary, Joshua Asen captured brief interviews with a variety of individuals and groups. DJ Key, who is the founder of the original hip hop organization in Morocco, expressed the conflict he and many others faced in following the path of hip hop versus the religion of Islam – “I will be blocked.” Numerous rap artists such as H-Kayne, MC-Bigg, Pat de Mosse, etc, and ordinary people expressed their dissatisfaction with the present (2005) way of life in Morocco and compared the ‘haves and don’t haves.’ One person mentioned that the biggest difference between the United States and them was freedom of speech – Why does the U.S. have it and they don’t? As he questioned this, he said, “As I’m speaking right now, the police are coming nearer.” To the youth of Morocco, rap defines who they are as giving up rap is perceived as the equivalent of giving up their identity. In turn, a rapper is taken as a person whose responsibility is to enlighten and give a message; not preach but reach others with their message.
The struggle of organizing and successfully executing the first ever hip hop festival in Morocco is, to me, symbolic of the effort that is required of teachers in incorporating multicultural education into the curriculum. Viewing this documentary really allowed me to gain a different perspective on hip hop and the role that it plays in education. In an interview, a rap artist pointed out that Americans rap about girls and money whereas in Morocco, they tell their life story and their struggles. Though a generalization, this statement helped me create the connection between hip hop and education. As a future teacher, it leads me to believe that exploring and analyzing musical expression can be a great vehicle in delving deeper into and fostering an understanding of other cultures inside the classroom as hip hop in Morocco embraces the first-hand experiences, oppressions, and truths of a cultural group that may not necessarily be found in a history textbook.
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2 comments:
Hey Una,
Wow this event looks really interesting. I wanted to attend and now I'm regretting that I wasn't able to. Your post really made me think about how important music/culture really is in a classroom. I've been in classes where kids liked to play music in the morning and share with friends and the teacher would say rude comments like "there's no time for this garbage!" That in itself is so insulting, not only for the harsh words because like this event showed you music is just one of many ways for people to express their culture and show other's what's important to them. I'm very impressed.
-Annmarie
This sounds like an awesome event--there needs to be more time in the day so we can attend all of these haha.
Anyway, I was intrigued by the comment someone in the film made about the mentality they faced in setting up the hip hop festival: "I will be blocked." Coming from a society like ours where I am often in the "privilege group" I feel awful hearing that people do not have the same opportunities and freedoms as I am so fortunate to experience. However, I think it is extraordinary that he continued to push through and make this happen. I agree that it says a lot of the country and a movement in the right direction.
Do you remember if anyone in the film made comparisons to countries other than the United States? I just thought it might be interesting to look at how this community perceives themselves in relation to non-Americans. But, I guess that opens up the question of prevalency of hip hop in other cultures.
You also included the comment about the "police coming closer" because there was no freedom of speech and like I said before, I feel awful and I think it's really scary and upsetting knowing that people have to live every day with this fear--I can't even imagine what that would be like. But, I did really like their idea of reaching people with their messages rather than preaching their messages to people. In connection with their messages, too, I thought the contrast they addressed regarding hip hop content in Americans versus Moroccans says a lot about what people are coming from and dealing with in their day-to-day living.
Reading things like this make me wish I was more musically inclined. I'm not saying that as an excuse by any means but more of an acknowledgement to myself that I have to push myself past my comfort zone in this particular area and really work to incorporate music and musical expression into instruction in order to better reach some of my students.
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