DREAMING IN C.O.L.O.R. AND R.H.Y.M.E: Cultural Insights on Black Literacies Through Youth Spoken Word Poetry

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 7:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Remixing Curriculum: Pedagogies, Technologies, and Literacies

Abstract

These cultural insights reflect a critical exploration of spoken word poetry through the multifaceted artistic journeys of Black students who live and attend public school in a predominately white suburban area. Considering spoken word poetry as a critical literacy of Hip-Hop Based Education (HHBE), I argue that out-of-school literary spaces build transformative communities. The conceptual offering of Dreaming in C.O.L.O.R. (Curriculum Offering Literacies of the Oppressed and Radical) and in R.H.Y.M.E. (Relevant Hip-Hop Youth Methods of Education) demonstrates socio-political inquiry to discuss how youth spoken word serves as a cultural marker, an access point to transformative practices, and a liberatory vehicle for marginalized voices to become agents of change.

Author

• Imani J. Wallace, University of Massachusetts - Amherst