"We're NOT Accepting That Over Here"

Over and over again, Hip Hop scholars and professors have heard: "there is no education surrounding Hip Hop", "rap lyrics are misogynistic and barbaric, so what can you possible learn from such a course", "so what do you really teach". But Mark Anthony Neal, David J. Leonard and James Braxton Peterson eloquently said We're NOT Accepting That Over Here with their Wednesday post in regards to the critiques of Dr. Dyson teaching a course on Jay Z at Georgetown University.

"Politics as Usual: Decoding the Attacks on Liberal Education" is not a post that just attacks what critiques have been saying, but it lets you into the mind of scholars, educators, professors and visionaries who boldly stand by Hip Hop and its way to reach, teach and educate. Dr. Dyson's course has received so much praise and at the same time critiques as to what really is the purpose of the course. Well let's really look into it...

You remember, "Ignorant S***" off of Jay Z's American Gangster album? No, Jay Z was not just spitting explicit words for the heck of it. Instead, he portrayed how so many wanted to hear degradation and ignorance from his lips because it only seemed right.

I make "Big Pimpin" or "Give It 2 Me", one of those... 

Ya'll hail me as the greatest writer of the 21st Century
I make some thought-provoking s***
Ya'll question whether he falling off
I'ma really confuse ya'll on this one
Follow.... 

"Ignorant S***" was Jay Z's way of showing that there's more to the culture than the misogynistic lyrics so many of us are accustom to hearing. How about "Song Cry"? Jay Z provided millions of Hip Hop "heads" with a song as a coping mechanism for relationships gone wrong. Recently, a Hip Hop ed chat occurred via Twitter regarding the power of Hip Hop in discussing the taboo subject of mental health (coping, loss, stress, dysfunctional families, suicidal thoughts, etc.) in our community. "Song Cry" is one of Jay Z's many platforms about mental health - along with "December 4", "New Day"... the list goes on.

 Jay Z is just one rapper out of many where you can dismantle the lyrics, have an entire lecture around, build research papers/theses on and engage in magniloquent dialogue towards change. It's time that Hip Hop is more embraced as a vital part of liberal education, instead of being black listed. Thank you Mark Anthony Neal, David J. Leonard and James Braxton Peterson for always saying We're NOT Accepting That Over Here.