ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE CRITICAL CULTURAL CYPHER: HIP HOP’S ROLE IN ENGAGING STUDENTS IN A DISCOURSE OF ENLIGHTENMENT A.Dee Williams, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation Directed By: Associate Professor Marvin Lynn Department of Education Hip Hop culture has been much maligned in the field of education for its disruptive role in the lives of youth. As such, education has ignored a cultural force that has had a major role in the development of youth identity. This study seeks to capitalize on the relationship between youth and Hip Hop culture through the engagement of high school students in a series of liberating intergroup dialogues with Hip Hop at their center. Based on the Cultural Circles of Paulo Freire and the theoretical frameworks of Critical Social Theory and Critical Race Theory, the Critical Cultural Cyphers – a Cypher is a Hip Hop term that describes a site where valued knowledge is constructed – were designed to cultivate the participants’ development of three areas: 1) the development of counter-narratives 2) the use of a language of critique and transcendence, and 3) the development of consientização or critical consciousness. Employing the methodology of critical ethnography, this study engaged eight high school seniors through a series of formal and informal interviews, mainstream academic classroom observations, and their participation in the inter-group dialogues. Within the dialogue, the participants attempted to 1) negotiate and integrate their constructions of definitions of Hip Hop culture, 2) identify problems within Hip Hop culture, and 3) develop individual and collective actions the group could take towards the resolution of the identified problems. As the profiles of the participants are shared, the findings suggest that as the participants engaged themselves and the others in an interrogation of Hip Hop culture, the participants went through a transformation that changed the ways in which they interacted with their lived environment. The Critical Cultural Cypher is shown to have implications for educational research, teacher education, school administration, and classroom teachers. THE CRITICAL CULTURAL CYPHER: HIP HOP’S ROLE IN ENGAGING STUDENTS IN A DISCOURSE OF ENLIGHTENMENT by A.Dee Williams Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2007 Advisory Committee: Dr. Marvin Lynn, Chair/Advisor Dr. Tara Brown-L’Bhay Dr. Lory Janelle Dance Dr. Linda Valli Dr. Bruce VanSledright © Copyright by A.Dee Williams 2007 ii DEDICATION For my mother, I can see your smile and hear your laugh and this continues to guide me For my father, You have given me the strength to love which can overcome all obstacles I miss you both iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In my life, I have tried to take a piece of everyone that I have encountered and incorporate those small pieces into who I am today. In this sense, I am all of you and you are all of me. I want to thank everyone who has helped me reach a point in my life where it all is beginning to make sense – Thank you all. I want to begin by personally thanking all that have moved on to another plane of existence, but still have time to visit me in my dreams: Grandma and Grandpa, Nana and Papa, Mom and Dad, and countless others. You are my true inspiration. For those that remain, I want to begin by thanking my family. I want to thank my brother Robert – your words will always have a home in my heart and soul. To the boys, Keenan and Sawyer – remember that when you find your personal legends, all the universe will conspire to help you achieve it… yessssshhhh!!! To Jeannette and Dionte – your belief in me will continue to inspire. To Renayta – we are the ones that can not be labeled; your strength leaves me in awe. To Amber – It has been a privilege loving you; your belief in me makes all of this worth it. I want to take this time and thank my committee beginning with my advisor Dr. Marvin Lynn – You brought me out here and we grew together… thanks for pushing me to recognize myself and bringing that out of me as a scholar; I will be forever grateful. Dr. Valli – you challenged me to develop in ways that I could not imagine but I am indebted to you. Dr. VanSledright – your ear has been something that I have and will continue to rely on. Dr. Dance – Thank you for your contribution as both a scholar and as a friend. Dr. Brown-L’Bhay – I am happy that I had the opportunity to work with you as a colleague and as a friend. Your input helped take iv this work to a higher level. Dr. Woods – We didn’t get a chance to finish what we started, but I hope you get as much out of UC Santa Barbara as I did as a student. I also want to thank all of the professors that inspired me along the way: Dr. Price, Dr. Selden, Dr. Dueck, Dr. Parham, Dr. Mawhinney, and especially Dr. Szymanski, whose words during a trying time empowered me. I would also like to extend a warm thank you to my dynamic colleagues and mentors on both the east and west coasts. Dr. Rona Frederick, Saroja Ringo, Heidi Oliver-O’Gilvie, Tim Kelly, Kevin Meuwissen, Grace Benigno, Alice Bartley, Regina Young, Becky Mercado, Tommy Totten, and Janet Awkoya – you have all made the University of Maryland a second home. Oliver Baker, Pat and Linda Cady, Greg Bernard, Dr. Joanna Goode, David Hammond, Amahl Thomas, Buster Layton, Larry Kizzee, John D. Johnson III, Dr. Ernest Morrell, Dr. John Rogers, Dr. Jeannie Oakes, Dr. Tyrone Howard, and Dr. Daniel Solórzano – your faith and belief in me has and will continue to drive me to unimaginable heights. Finally, I would like to thank the teacher and all of the participants in this study. Your words and your stories are all important and I hope I have done them justice here. I am a better person today having met and worked with you. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables and Figures..........................................................................................viii Chapter I: Introduction............................................................................ 1 Purpose of the Study ...................................................................................... 4 Statement of the Problem............................................................................... 6 Research Questions ....................................................................................... 7 Description of the Critical Cultural Cypher................................................... 8 Description of the Participants....................................................................... 10 Brian................................................................................................... 10 C.J. ..................................................................................................... 11 Cyrus.................................................................................................. 12 Daisy .................................................................................................. 14 Destiny ............................................................................................... 15 Mia ..................................................................................................... 16 Mike ................................................................................................... 17 Nasa.................................................................................................... 18 Social Location of Researcher: Raced, Classed and Gendered ..................... 20 Significance of the Study............................................................................... 25 Outline of Dissertation Chapters.................................................................... 26 Chapter II: Review of the Literature ........................................................ 28 Paulo Freire: The Man and the Methodology................................................ 28 Grounding Paulo Freire: Critical Theory and its Theoretical Frameworks .. 32 Critical Pedagogy............................................................................... 33 Critical Social Theory.................................................................................... 35 Critical Social Theory in Education................................................... 37 Critical Race Theory...................................................................................... 39 Critical Race Pedagogy...................................................................... 41 Multicultural Education ................................................................................. 42 Culturally Relevant Pedagogy ........................................................... 44 Limitations .................................................................................................... 46 A Brief History of Popular Culture ............................................................... 49 Popular Culture and Schooling .......................................................... 52 Popular Culture as a Pedagogical Site ............................................... 55 An Introduction to Hip Hop: The Birth of a Culture ..................................... 57 The Social Influences in Hip Hop.................................................................. 60 Gender ............................................................................................... 60 The Criminalization of Hip Hop culture...........................................