Amaka Okechukwu

Major and Classification

Sociology

Faculty Mentor

  • Lanita Jacobs-Huey, Ph.D.

Department

  • Anthropology

McNair Project

Stakes is High: Exploring Social Activism within the Hip Hop Generation

This study examines “Hip Hop Activism” during a 2-month, pilot ethnographic study of Hip Hop culture and the Hip Hop Generation. Who is the Hip Hop Generation? Can Hip Hop culture, which has immense market power and influence on popular culture, make a socio-political impact in disenfranchised communities? Findings convey that the Hip Hop Generation are young minorities, particularly Blacks and Latinos, born after the Civil Rights movement who have been influenced by, and are participants and creators of Hip Hop culture. In addition, findings convey that the process by which community is shaped in grassroots community organizations that are informed by Hip Hop culture positively influences the potential for social change in disenfranchised communities of color. However, currently the grassroots Hip Hop community lacks the resources and unity needed for effective large-scale national organizing. Still, future organizing of the Hip Hop Generation is potentially influential on socio-political issues in disenfranchised minority communities nationwide.