A decolonial praxis of hip-hop: hip-hop culture's connection to resilient youth's critical consciousness and wellbeing

2018-08-16This qualitative study aims to add to the scholarly body of youth who identify with hip-hop culture from a critical race theory (CRT) lens. CRT will be further expanded through the use of the Social Justice Youth Development Model and Ecological-Systems Model, to explore hip-hop culture's connection to resilient urban-youths' critical consciousness concerning their wellbeing. Wellbeing will be defined and assessed utilizing the I COPPE Scale, which will measure the overall and Interpersonal, Community, Occupational, Physical, Psychological, and Economic wellbeing. Students from a high school site, located in Los Angeles County, will be eligible to participate in a one-day workshop on hip-hop culture. The workshop will provide a space for youth to engage and interact with the facilitators on the four artistic elements of hip-hop culture. The workshop will be divided into four sessions that will introduce each artistic element and give the youth an opportunity to learn about the history and contributions of each artistic element of hip-hop culture through the presenters' narratives. Youth participants will be given an opportunity at the latter part of each mini-workshop for a hands-on learning experience given by the presenters. At the end of the presentations, youth will have an opportunity to share their experiences of the one-day workshop on hip-hop culture. The criteria for selection will be based on the students' availability to attend the workshop, the students identifying as a student at the study site and having an interest in hip-hop culture. The goal of the workshop is two-fold. First, to provide a space for youth to deconstruct and engage in a hands-on learning experience with the four artistic elements of hip-hop culture through a one-day workshop. Secondly, to have the workshop serve as a catalyst for eliciting a youth narrative on critical consciousness and wellbeing. The study seeks to answer three questions compiled from the youth narratives: (1) How can hip-hop culture be used as a tool to support the wellbeing of youth deemed resilient youth? (2) How can youth who identify as resilient youth use hip-hop culture to narrate their experiences? (3) How can a workshop that introduces the artistic elements of hip-hop culture form a connection between critical consciousness and wellbeing among resilient youth? Wellbeing will be recorded utilizing the I COPPE scale prior to the semi-structured interview after the workshop