Hip-Hop’s Lil’ Sistas Speak: An Examination of How Hip-Hop Impacts Black Girls’ Perceptions of Race, Gender, and Sexuality

• In Event: Examining the Role of Digital Media in Teaching/Learning About Issues of Identity/Diversity

Abstract

The study explores Hip Hop music and culture as more than just hard-hitting beats and trendy dance moves. It is also a site for education that young Black women today use to define themselves and others outside of conventional schools walls. This study takes place at a local community center in Atlanta, Georgia. In contrast to traditional writings on Black female teens and Hip Hop (Fitts, 2008; Miller-Young, 2008; Pough, 2004; Sharpley-Whiting 2007), the driving force behind this research project is the voices of the young women themselves. The central focus of the research draws upon the first-hand experiences of female inner city teens as they construe their identities through the music and culture of Hip Hop.

Author

• Bettina L. Love, University of Georgia