Latina/o Youth Activism: Examining the Potential of Socially Conscious Hip-Hop Music in the Development of Critical Civic Praxis

• In Event: 66.021 - Latina/o Educational Landscapes in Chicago: Testimonios, Resistance, and Praxis

Abstract

This paper documents the development of critical civic praxis (Ginwright and Cammarota, 2007) among Latin@ youth by examining the ways some Latin@s become agents of social change through their engagement with community-based organizations that incorporate hip hop music and culture within their programming. The scholarly literature on youth civic engagement suggests a “participation gap” between urban youth of color and white middle-class youth (Hart & Atkins, 2002; Levinson, 2007). Research further suggests civic participation increases with educational attainment and, as a result of youth of color educational underperformance, Latin@s are less likely to engage in the social fabric and structures of their communities and less likely to create change later in their adult lives (Cervone & Cushman, 2002). While this literature outlines existing challenges youth of color face in urban settings, one concern with this discourse is that it focuses, almost exclusively, on a deficit framework regarding urban communities of color and only narrowly defines civic involvement in terms of voting behaviors and volunteerism.

This project analyzes 20 in-depth interviews with Latin@ youth who are self-described active listeners of hip hop, as well as participant observations at two community-based organizations in Chicago that incorporate hip hop music into their programs. Interrupting the deficit framing of youth literature, this paper provides important insights to the emergent literature on civic education in schools by exploring how Latn@ youth conceptualize civic participation, the role of education in shaping civic behaviors, as well as examining the ways some youth are involved in their communities. For instance, one youth, Alesandra, is a staunch advocate and organizer of immigration reform in Chicago. Her understandings of the immigration debate was informed by many different factors including her upbringing in a largely immigrant community, socially conscious hip hop artists, and her network at Adelante, the community-based organization she is involved with. Civic participation of this type is often unrecognized or undervalued by the literature. This paper works to unveil the different forms of Latin@ youth engagement in ways that account for young people’s differential power (Sanchez-Jankowsi, 2002) and that is inclusive of their social, economic, and political histories and realities.

Author

• Isaura Betzabe Pulido, Northeastern Illinois University