Subsequently, many of us who are grown and have found careers working with young people are creating ways to bring the literary value of hip-hop into the classroom.  

 For example, a Hip-hopper-educator like Gabriel Benn (aka MC Asheru) co-founded H.E.L.P., a serious of literacy activity books that feature rappers on the cover like the latest issue of XXL magazine, but include literacy exercises inside.

Likewise, the Hip-Hop Association released The Hip Hop Education Guidebook to show the myriad of ways that educators can use the energy and creativity of hip-hop culture to make schools and classrooms more engaging.

While most media outlets consider hip-hop literature to be synonymous with ghetto/street literature, I argue that hip-hop literature is still in a birthing stage. However, there are certified hip-hop novels such as Abiola Abrams– hip-hop feminist novel, Dare, that combine the aesthetics of the culture with traditional literary form, empowering themes and socially relevant topics. Then there is the team of powerful women hip-hoppers-writers-activists–Jennifer  ‘JLOVE’ Calderón, author of That White Girl; Elisha  ‘E-Fierce’ Miranda, author of The Sista Hood; Sofía ‘Black Artemis’ Quintero, author of Picture Me Rollin’; and Marcella Runell Hall, co-editor of The Hip Hop Education Guidebook–who have joined forces to release Conscious Women Rock the Page, a curriculum that uses hip-hop fiction to explore social issues and promote political action.

  And naturally, there are texts emerging, such as my book THE MESSAGE: 100 LIFE LESSONS FROM HIP-HOP’S GREATEST SONGS, which aim to remix literature and speak directly to the hip-hopper. The goal is to celebrate the power in the culture, uphold the importance of the written word, and present an entire generation with reading material they can find a groove in–books that don’t drag our young people down, rather, titles that seek to bring them to a higher level.  

Thus another personal goal in writing THE MESSAGE was to use tools from hip-hop culture to empower my generation. Hip-hop is the language of our youth. It’s a global culture. For those so quick to dismiss or give up on it, I extend the challenge for us to reclaim its power and use it for good in our communities. Why should we allow corporate interests/moneyhungryfools/ignorant media to define what hip-hop is, and allow that definition to be overwhelmingly negative?   

There are tons of writers, artists, and educators, working to harness the positive power of hip-hop in our communities. Complaining about the dysfunctional aspects of rap music is one thing, but finding ways to use the culture for empowerment is a much more effective action plan.   

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