The 3am Miracle: Co-Constructing Pedagogical Theory through Intergenerational Hip Hop Education Dialogue

• In Event: "Not Like Us": Using Hip Hop Sensibilities to Broaden Notions of Knowledge, Expertise, and How to Disseminate It

Abstract

In response to the limitations of traditional scholarship in disseminating research to broader education communities, particularly those concerned with the voices and experiences of communities of color, this paper explores the co-creation of pedagogical knowledge and theory through recordings of intergenerational dialogue rooted in Hip Hop culture, pedagogical practice, and freedom dreaming (Kelley, 2002). This presentation will share examples from a podcast project, entitled, “(Re)Definitions aka The 3am Miracle,” which serves as an alternative form of scholarly output, engaging in critical dialogue with members of the Hip Hop Education community across secondary, post-secondary, and out-of-school spaces, to a) redefine Hip Hop culture and research methodologies in the field, b) investigate the relevance and impact of Hip Hop history and education, c) decenter adultism in Hip Hop Education, and d) create pathways for young people’s freedom dreaming through intergenerational Hip Hop community-building.

Inspired by the “Midnight Miracle” podcast, a series in which Kennedy Center Mark Twain prize winner Dave Chappelle invites musicians and comedians to his home and recording studio to co-construct community through recorded dialogue on art, music, society, and personhood, “The 3am Miracle” brought together students, teachers, professors, and community leaders across geographic and digital spaces to engage in generative dialogue about Hip Hop and education through the lens of youth, culture, historicity, and radical imagination.

According to Riddle and Hickey (2023), “pedagogy can be understood relationally as the transformation of understanding, knowledge, and ‘consciousness that takes place in the interaction of three agencies- the teacher, the learner, and the knowledge they produce together’” (p. 267-268). Through this study, we argue that those within critical Hip Hop education communities are simultaneously positioned as teacher, learner, and knowledge-producer in ways that disrupt traditional approaches to schooling and research. Thus, the expression of this knowledge must also be disruptive, challenging long-held traditions regarding language and access that have historically distanced minoritized communities, including the Hip Hop community from the academy and from engagement with what is deemed to be scholarship. “The 3am Miracle,” then, emphasizes the role of dialogic inquiry, community scholarship, and Hip Hop Based Education in nurturing young people's activist identities and their visions for a liberated future. Grounded in theories of relationality (Vossoughi et al., 2021) and critical Hip Hop pedagogy (Akom, 2009), this work advocates for educational theory and practice that can transform schools into spaces of activism and freedom dreaming by centering Hip Hop community, educational praxis, and digital scholarship with Hip Hop culture at its nexus.

Authors

• Daren Graves, Simmons University

• Lauren Leigh Kelly, Rutgers University