Music-making, Bridge-building

New Curriculum Uses Hip-Hop for Healing

BY: VENITA JENKINS PHOTOGRAPHY BY: BRADLEY PIERCE

Hip-hop has been used as a vehicle to channel the voices of the people since its founding 50 years ago. An initiative launched by the UNCW Office of the Arts tapped into the genre to help D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy students find their voices.

Through the Hip-Hop Collective, seventh and eighth grade students created basic song structures and lyrics and recorded original songs that allowed them to process their emotions. Students also expressed themselves through spoken word poetry and graffiti art. A $75,000 National Endowment of the Arts Our Town grant funded the resiliency-focused hip-hop curriculum.

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“We wanted the students to see themselves reflected in the course content, in the teaching artists and the hip-hop culture. Watching things click and students accessing the courage and vulnerability to create and share their original work was inspiring,” said Cara Marsicano, artist services and engagement coordinator for the Office of the Arts.

The collective is a collaboration between the Office of the Arts, the College of Health and Human Services’ Schools of Nursing and Social Work, the Department of Music, the New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force and local teaching artists.

Brandon “Bigg B” Hickman, Coast 97.3-WMNX program director, provided students with an overview of the history and evolution of hip-hop. He also assisted them with creating their beats. Hickman was excited to see hip-hop used as a resource in the classroom.

“Whether it was art (graffiti), music, poetry or the way we dress, hip-hop has always been an expression of what youth are seeing in their neighborhoods and what they go through on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “For us to let them express themselves via hip-hop opened many students’ minds and was therapy for them. It was a safe space for them to let it all out.”

Organizers used the Community Resiliency Model to teach students concepts and resiliency skills. The project’s research team is reviewing data to evaluate the program and the potential to implement the curriculum in other public schools, said Marsicano. The team consists of Josalin

Projects like the Hip-Hop Collective allow for more diverse types of music learning to occur in the classroom and connect community partners with students to inspire, lead and encourage them to be music makers in the future, said Kladder.