Graduation Term

2022

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Department of Educational Administration and Foundations: Educational Administration

Committee Chair

Beth Hatt

Abstract

This dissertation is not a dissertation, at least not in the traditional white-normed academic standards. Let’s call it a project. This project aims to capture the lived experiences of Latinos navigating a whitestream educational system while using Hip-Hop culture as a form of empowerment. Whitestream schooling is causing cultural genocide that can damage a student’s ability to develop their cultural identity and ability to resist an oppressive system. This project explores how Hip-Hop can influence identity development and resistance against an unjust American educational system of schooling for Latino students. Furthermore, it challenges the accessibility of knowledge creation and explores how the work we produce can be accessible to our communities. With the central belief that there is power in our stories and there is strength in our ways of knowing in our knowledge, I aim to use our testimonios as a roadmap to navigate an oppressive educational with Hip-Hop in their toolbox. The process of sharing one’s story can be both liberating and empowering. Stories or testimonios in our Latino culture allow us to bring our narrative and knowledge to the forefront. Therein lies the fundamental goal of this project: to shift research; to shift perspectives on who is traditionally in academia considered an expert and knowledge holder, to learn the stories of Latinos who have been impacted positively by their exposure/interaction with Hip-Hop, and to make those stories accessible to the community. Through this project, I aim to capture testimonios and develop a product that is accessible to my community. In addition, the development of a podcast aims to capture the collective experience of our youth and community members. Through this process, I argue that identity as a form of resistance needs to be awakened in Latino youth at a much earlier age to understand how the schooling system has colonized Latinos. The resulting project is a collection of testimonios that will form a limited-series podcast accessible to the community.

Access Type

Dissertation-Open Access

DOI

https://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2022.20220606094401748585.999973

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