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Yardan Muhammad
Dr. Blake Scott Rhetoric & Civic Engagement 28 August 2012

Critique or Criticize: Hip-Hop as Rhetoric, an Unconventional Medium for the Public at Large 1. Rhetorical Citizenship Defined
Rhetorical citizenship requires involvement in a community through the use of various language tools for a particular purpose such as addressing a community concern. Citizenship, for the context of this paper, refers to the active participation in civic affairs by the members of society. The name incurs more than just a title, but a set of duties, responsibilities and in some instances behaviors. Citizenship is a relationship that should exist amongst active members of society and between the citizens and the societies to which they belong. Rhetorical citizenship refers to the form or methods of participation as being based in the various available language tools. Examples include the publishing of papers, essays, articles, literary works, letters, etcetera that address social issues or other community problems. Other tools of rhetorical citizenship come in the form of discussions, arguments, symposiums, and forums, even everyday conversations, geared toward some type of civic action. Rhetoric and citizenship work hand in hand to manage or solve many everyday problems. Rhetorical devices allow people to engage each other in order to elicit solutions. Communicating or arguing differing viewpoints force people to critically think, develop and

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test new ideas, critique old ideas and challenge modalities. Rhetorical citizenship should foster awareness, facilitate discussion, forge partnerships, assist advocacy and serve other critical functions in society.

2. Educational Sponsorship
Whose responsibility is it to instill this sense of civic duty in the minds and hearts of the people? I believe this burden is shared by many institutions and people, whether intentionally or incidentally. These educational sponsors provide a conduit for expressing and carrying out civic responsibilities. Most educational sponsors are charged with the specific purpose of providing a service to the community such as the school system. They are responsible for arming students with the tools they will use to effectively engage in civic affairs such as public speaking, creative writing, technical writing, research skills, argumentation, networking, etc. I was fortunate enough to obtain and fine-tune a majority of these skills in school. Other institutions may influence a persons values, morals, and ideals such as religious organizations, churches and the family unit. Extracurricular and social organizations or charities may satisfy a persons need to belong, get involved and/or contribute. All these organizations had the effect of encouraging and supporting civic involvement and served as educational sponsors. Other educational sponsors are not as obvious. They may not have the specific intent of facilitating learning or fostering civic engagement, however, they may play a huge role in shaping belief systems or acting as mediums of rhetorical discourse. Often, various subcultures develop within a society and become entrenched in the consciousness of the people and through its effect on the group as well as the individual, act as a sort of

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educational sponsor. One of the things I sometimes hate to admit but cannot deny is that Hip-Hop played a huge role in shaping my belief systems and influenced the development of many of my rhetorical skills. I say Hip-Hop was a major educational sponsor not for the breadth or quality of the information I have accumulated from it, but rather for the numerous profound effects and influences it had on my life and my place in society. HipHop music and culture was definitely not the primary facilitator of my knowledge nor was it the most effective at encouraging my civic engagement. That honor goes to my family and the great professors Ive encountered throughout my educational experience whove provided me with support, knowledge and opportunity beyond measure. I am focusing on Hip Hop culture not to detract from the numerous contributions made by my academic sponsors, but to draw attention to the additional mediums through which educational sponsorship may take form, sometimes inadvertently. Subcultures historically have emerged necessarily in critical times, usually as a response to some social condition, human need or worthy cause. In the 1960s, the hippie movement spread awareness of anti-war sentiments and the expression of individuality. The dawn of the rock era spawned rebellious attitudes toward the establishment and social norms, and challenged conventions. These subcultures attracted large groups of people who formed new ideas and perceptions about the world around them and their views of how it should or could be. These subcultures also developed various means of expression that provided new opportunities for civic engagement. Music was a channel for artists to speak about what and how they felt. This was then broadcast to the masses that had to interpret those messages. Some accepted these messages; some rejected them, while others were inspired to create messages of their own.

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In my era and community, the Hip-Hop subculture served many roles. It brought together people from diverse backgrounds to share commonalities and discover differences. It provided a platform for expressing and addressing concerns. It fostered creativity and embraced challenges, while driving innovation. It has assisted millions of people in becoming better orators. Specifically, it has enhanced my critical thinking and creative writing skills. A patent and latent skill in creating Rap music is a certain command of the English language as well as the ability to take poetic license. The Hip-Hop culture emphasizes healthy competition amongst artists so that each one should attempt to develop their own style. You may borrow from others but are strongly encouraged to take the art further by improving or modifying it. My writing skills improved as a result of diving through dictionaries and thesaurus in an attempt to incorporate new words into my vocabulary to keep my subject matter fresh. Also, writing raps (rhymes) were a form of poetry. This involved observing the world around me, digesting it, and then creatively constructing my interpretation of it, all the while making it interesting enough to be acceptable to the listener in order to make them see my point of view or inspire them to critically think about it. This involved being able to choose the most efficient and effective wording, as well as focusing on rhythm and meter to make it appealing to the ear or to create dissonance. I was able to learn and master speaking metaphorically, expressing complex concepts symbolically, using alliteration and consonance etc. in order to shape the aural, sometimes even the visual, aesthetics of a message. These are just some of the mechanics of writing that Hip-Hop nurtured and advanced.

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The genre also served as a sort of filtered lens, providing unique insights on the outside world while at the same time offering those on the other side of the looking glass with detailed, yet open to interpretation, pictures in the form of music. This may be an example of both positive and negative sponsorship. Because of the large platform available to mainstream, and even underground artists, their opinions on various matters have the ability to be broadcast worldwide. This is a powerful medium for spreading awareness of issues. In the early 1990s for example, gangster rappers recorded songs that publicized the L.A. riots in 1992, bringing back sour memories of the 1960s riots in Watts (Martinez 265). This had the unfortunate effect of fostering anti-law enforcement sentiments that still prevail today, but was instrumental in exposing the cruelty being perpetrated against inner-city youth by corrupt police officers. While there are many gangster rappers who may bring negative perceptions from or to the Hip Hop culture, there are also conscious rappers like the artists Common and Mos Def, who infuse their music with positivity while still managing to address critical community concerns. Mos Def wrote an open letter describing his outrage at the shooting of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed teen who was shot 41 times by police officers (Def). In his letter, he stated we are the Senators and Congressmen of our communitiesbecause we talk about what nobody else will talk about. He went further calling for people to come forwardshow your loveby speaking out against the injustices that they suffer. There are countless other Hip Hop artists who motivate and inspire people to be aware of what is going on around them and to not remain silent but to have a voice and speak out (Def). Hip-Hop was also a major supporter of the Vote or Die campaign preceding the 2004 election where voter turnout for registered youths under age 30 increased by over 4.6 million (Vargas C01). Many rap artists made commercials and

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appearances wearing Vote or Die t-shirts to raise awareness and increase voter registrations among the youth. When I was a child and growing up, it was difficult for me, and I imagine, for many others to develop a sincere interest in many civic affairs until it really struck home. Also there were many issues that I got my initial exposure to by listening to music, or hearing an artist that I identified with, bringing it to my attention. I used to hear adults talk politics and instantly tuned them out because the information either went over my head, or I was just too immature to care. During that period of my life, the music I listened to not only made some of that information relevant and accessible, but through shared interests in musical tastes with others, I was able to build relationships with peers and engage in discussions with them about the issues raised in the music. These discourses really struck a chord and inspired me to want to express my creativity through writing by incorporating social commentary into my own music. Despite the bad rap that Hip-Hop music garners, I believe it could be harnessed in order to capture the minds of the potentially disconnected or disinterested youth in order to make them more active and socially responsible citizens. To echo the sentiments of English professor Deborah Brandt: We have to find better ways of allowing young peoples skills developed outside of formal institutions to flow more regularly into school. (Hamilton). While some of the harsh criticisms of the Hip-Hop genre are certainly warranted, theres a much larger picture that deserves some praise.

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Works Cited
Def, Mos. "An Open Letter From Mos Def." 18 June 2001. Davy D: The FNV Newsletter. 28 May 2012 <http://www.daveyd.com/openletterfrommosdef.html>. Hamilton, Buffy J. Sponsors of Literacy in Contemporary Culture: An E-Interview with Dr. Deborah Brandt. 25 March 2010. 28 May 2012 <http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/sponsors-of-literacy-in-contemporaryculture-an-e-interview-with-dr-deborah-brandt/>. Hart, Peter D. and Mario A Brossard. "A Generation to Be Proud of: Young Americans Volunteer to Make a Difference." The Brookings Review (2002): 36-37. Martinez, Theresa A. "Popular Culture as Oppositional Culture: Rap as Resistance." Sociological Perspectives (1997): 265. Vargas, Jose Antonio. "Vote or Die? Well, They Did Vote." Washington Post 9 November 2004: C01.