Comments on: RING THE ALARM: How Jay-Z, L’il Kim, Notorious BIG and Busta Rhymes Represent the Untapped Brilliance Languishing in Today’s Public High Schools

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:36:05 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMjR6Htckdc

By: From the hood to Yale

From the hood to Yale — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:26:30 +0000

To call Westinghouse a “ghetto” school only discloses how much more you need to choose your words effectively as well as doing some research on who the rough names of inner city, five borough high schools really are. Westinghouse is exceptional compared to real hard knock schools like Grover Cleveland High School and Franklin K Lane. We had metal detectors and school shootings before the Columbine tragedy and no one ever paid us any mind. It is no surprise why Jay Z is such a weak and far from lyrical rapper which no rap sheet to begin with but constantly states how great he thinks he is on every single track. The over-obvious statements he makes continues to make the goons go “ooohhh worddd”. So he went to a good high school…why am I not surprised?? Let us not forget those nice catholic school uniforms Biggie wore ( I love BIG though). I love Kim too but she is nothing overly special. Bustah Rhymes is a gifted lyricist with a prolific career but has no real message. Coming from such chaos as an adolescent all the way to embarking on a top Ivy like Yale, I have witnessed that artistic and musical brilliance is sprinkled not only in nice Brooklyn high schools and dangerous high schools but everywhere and on every level. Educational activists know these kinds of things.

By: EminemsRevenge

EminemsRevenge — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:02:49 +0000

DC174—I noticed Obama’s been Sambo shuffling lately…but judging from your comment you must be one of those “post-racist” punks who done overcome…but last time i looked, neither the GOP or the NYPD use the term “N word”…..
http://x76.xanga.com/d71c610b56134178842856/m136493172.png

By: Marc Lamont Hill

Marc Lamont Hill — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:24:08 +0000

Rob,

I agree. But, contrary to what tom’s post implied, I never said that we should talk about little kim’s rap music in school. i said that Lil Kim clearly had talent that went unrecognized in school. I believe that we need to find ways to link her out-of-school talents to in-school demands. For example, many of the implicit understandings of literary form and style that rappers use in their work can be used to teach traditional english literature. This is why David’s division between creative and academic talent is both arbitrary and false. With regard to the “Queen B****” stuff, I do believe that there is a place in school for critical media literacy, so that many of Tom’s concerns about Kim would be addressed i healthy, productive, responsible, and emancipatory fashion. Anyway, I unpack ALL of these issues in my book.

By: DCI74

DCI74 — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:09:23 +0000

…but Black MEN have to keep their learning on the down low because Massuh don’t like the fact that WE are ten times smarter than HIM”

Umm what?? It’s 2009 EminemsRevenge so I hope you were just being sarcastic but if not please enlighten me; who are these black men choosing to keep learning on the down low and who is Massuh/HIM?

By: ~JJG~

~JJG~ — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:59:19 +0000

I definitely get the message of this post, but Lil Kim “iconic”…I will have to disagree. I’m no hip hop historian/expert, but didn’t Biggie (initially) write Kim’s rhymes? Can she even rap? For real, I am so unaware that she is able to rap, which is why I hated that they implied that Kim could rap in the Biggie movie.

By: R.oB.

R.oB. — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:16:23 +0000

Great post, Marc. Even I think Tom Penn’s post was hot garbage in it’s myopia, he does have a point. Queen bitch is an image we have to nuance. If girls aren’t for sale (FB), then we need to keep it real. Hate the sin so to speak..

By: EminemsRevenge

EminemsRevenge — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:58:30 +0000

I got basically a high school education since i couldn’t AFFORD college…and if you hit my SN link you’ll see that i must’ve learnt something somewhere…methinks it was the library. The first thing i asked someone when i move to Harlem was WHERE IS THE NEAREST LIBRARY…ditto when i cross countried it to Sacramento!

Learning was instilled in me by Martin and Malcolm, but Black MEN have to keep their learning on the down low because Massuh don’t like the fact that WE are ten times smarter than HIM

By: Ida Byrd-Hill

Ida Byrd-Hill — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:24:31 +0000

As you move to your new faculty position I would love to discuss my concept and 1 year pilot Hustle & TECHknow Preparatory High School, a cyber school, with you.

By: MsBlake

MsBlake — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:26:13 +0000

I agree with both David and Mario! I think both traditional academia and the arts should be recognized in public schools, however, education in the most traditional sense is fundamental. It is important for America’s youth to have basic reading and math skills. Lil’ Kim and Jay-z used unconventional means to achieve their version of the American Dream and that is ok for Lil’ Kim and Jay-Z. However, it should not be the standard that we teach our children. Why? Simply because the odds of being the next Jay-Z are against them. Should we embrace and nuture their talents? Absolutely! Is it important for these skills to be recognized in public schools? Yes! Yet, it is very necessary to know how to read, write, understand basic math, and become critical thinkers.