Naeema: My Classes
Video
Video footage of AFRAM 313: The Cultural and Literary History of HipHop that features the instructor, Naeema, and her classmates. The piece also includes interviews with the instructor and Naeema.
Audio from video
African American and African Studies Instructor Anthony Ratcliffe:
“I really want the course to challenge perceptions that they may already have about hip hop. Whether it is positive perceptions, or very negative perceptions.”
Naeema:
“I like hip hop; I like dancing to it, but I don’t typically listen to it. And I kind of looked down on hip hop before taking this class.”
Ratcliffe:
“I want everyone to sort of take out the idea that hip hop is a very complex space. It is something that is more complex than what we see on the TV, what we hear on the radio. There’s a lot of potential for hip hop to be something that is very transformative as well.”
Naeema:
“There’s a lot of stuff going on in hip hop, sexist language, homophobic language, but I think being in that class has taught me to appreciate hip hop, and we’ve got this different form, as an art form, and exposing me to the different layers of hip hop. It’s not just the mainstream stuff that is on the radio all the time. You have music out there that is conscious, that is politically trying to motivate people as well. So I appreciate the class because it has helped me to broaden my understanding of hip hop, what it means, the cultural history of hip hop. Looking at it in a kind of multifaceted way.”
Ratcliffe:
“I really enjoy when those students are in class and they sort of spark discussion that just - you know, it’s like a fire storm, and everybody has something to say.”
Class discussion—Student 1:
“I feel in the early 90s, wasn’t there an issue of female gangs as well…”
Class discussion—Student 2:
“We were talking about originally with the beginning of hip hop and how men came out and had this feeling of self respect—like Black men needed that, that Black nationalism…”
Naeema:
“Here at Mount Holyoke, all the classes challenge each student, or my experience, the classes that I have taken, to kind of explore the gray area. Everything isn’t simply black or white or yes or no. You also have that in between space, and being okay with being in that uncomfortable in between space where you can’t label everything. And I think that’s just tied into like my identity in general, what I want to do in the future. I’m not just one thing, you know. I have many different passions, I have many different interests.”
For more information on Naeema’s AFRAM 313: The Cultural and Literary History of HipHop class
(Links to related sites outside this tour)
- Read the course description and syllabus for AFRAM 313: The Cultural and Literary History of HipHop …
- Meet Instructor Anthony Ratcliffe in “Getting Hip to Hop”…
- Visit MHC’s African and African American Department…
About This Site
This transcript is a companion to the Students Talk About MHC, a multimedia site presenting the Mount Holyoke experience through photos, audio clips, and video clips. If you have suggestions about how to improve the accessibility of this site, please contact us.