Phat* Fiction: Engaging Hip-Hop Literature in the Public ...



Phat* Fiction: Engaging Hip-Hop Literature in the Public Library

(*phat = popular, hip and tempting fiction)

Monday, June 28, 2010; 10:30am-Noon

Washington Convention Center (WCC), Room 147B

Title: Relevance of Hip Hop in the Modern Classroom Setting

Tachelle Shamash Wilkes

Educator, Author, Amanda’s Ray

Tachelle@

About Tachelle Shamash Wilkes

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AMANDA’S RAY DESCRIPTION

After seeing her in concert, Amanda Ray (16) loves all things Kendra Star! Like Kendra, Amanda is determined to get a record deal. However, an altercation with a neighbor over her notebook lands her in the Albany Detention Center. Still feeling a connection to Kendra Star and taking the advice of her counselor, Amanda takes a break from writing rhymes to write Kendra. Weeks pass and not only doesn’t Amanda receive mail from Kendra Star, she doesn’t receive a single letter from anyone; disappointment sets in. Amanda’s behavior, like her high hopes of getting a letter from Kendra, starts spiraling downwards fast!  Amanda spends more time in trouble than writing in her notebook. Eventually, Kendra writes back. In the letters Amanda finds out that she and Kendra are two of a kind.  However, more importantly, Kendra Star encourages Amanda to look within herself for strength and energy.

AMANDA’S RAY SNEAK PEEK

Chapter 1 -  Where I live ain't always sunshine, it ain't always grey skies either. Sometimes shots ring off rooftops while I'm sleeping at night. Other times children fly free like birds up and down Brooklyn concrete streets with smiles on their faces. I knew I could write when Ms. Johnson stampeded to the back of the classroom with her mega ten size feet. "Amanda Raye, you have a gift," she uttered as she slipped an A paper in my palms. My lips curved, cracked a half of smile and shoved the poem to the bottom of my book bag -- hearing it crumble as if it was being crushed by buildings. Yeah I can write, but what's the use? Writers don't make loot and that's what I needed to get us out the ghetto. Then I found Kendra Star. She battled Lady Luck on Fight Klub. The way she spit was killa. Kendra Star's vicious on da mic. I loved the way Kendra spit them bars -- "beamers - move so fast, can't imitate my swag..." Fell in love with Kendra on the spot. She was the hottest female rapper out and I wanted to be just like her, so I started freestylin' -- got nice from practicing everyday. Googled everything Kendra Star and studied her rhymes. Dissected them line by line 'cause I wanted to know what made Kendra tick. There was something about Kendra Star -- the way she moved, the clothes, her raspy voice. I hung onto every sound that flowed from her tongue. Every time Kendra was on 106 and Park, my eyes melted the TV screen. As soon as she came out with a new song I downloaded it to my IPod and memorized it instantaneously. It wasn't just the clothes she flossed, but there was struggle in her rhymes - deep-edged pain. It was mine. She was my mirror, and I was reflectin'. Kendra had a crack addicted mother - Mine died at eight. We lived in parallel worlds. I ain't obsessed or nothing -- ain't no lesbian. I just think Kendra Star is fly and that's why I had to see her in person.

 

 

 

 

Phat* Fiction: Engaging Hip-Hop Literature in the Public Library

(*phat = popular, hip and tempting fiction)

Monday, June 28, 2010; 10:30am-Noon

Washington Convention Center (WCC), Room 147B

Title: Relevance of Hip Hop in the Modern Classroom Setting

Tachelle Shamash Wilkes

Educator, Author, Amanda’s Ray

Tachelle@

In 2010 teachers are all too familiar with digital distractions such as cell phones, iPhones, Blackberrys and iPods. While Ms. Johnson is at the blackboard going over the day’s lesson -- little Jimmy is texting underneath his desk.

Quick Facts

• Texting is the No. 2 use of cell phones after checking the time.

• Sixty-five percent of high school students use cell phones in school.

• One-quarter of text messages sent by teens are sent during class.

• Text messages connect kids instantly and privately.

• Images and messages can be spread virally or uploaded.

• Teens with phones averaged nearly 2,900 texts a month — a 566 percent increase in two years.

(Source: Common Sense Media)

To compete with the digital age teachers have to continuously find literature to engage students.

• Teenagers listen to an average of nearly 2.5 hours of music per day.

• Although music lacks the visual element of film, adolescent exposure to music is much more frequent, accounting for an average of 16 hours each week for music compared with about 6 hours each week for movie images.

• “Music is well-known to connect deeply with adolescents and to influence identity development, perhaps more than any other entertainment medium.

(Source: Under the Influence of…Music, New York Times)

• Latino and African American teenagers have the lowest literacy rates – one in four teens and one in five teens respectively read below the basic reading levels.

(Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

Literacy experts have said that the ability to read could be the “single most accurate predictor of success in life.” Research has shown people with strong literacy skills are more likely to encompass higher self-esteem, better health, jobs and higher wages compared to those who don’t have basic reading skills.

Librarians are a bridge to teachers and teens – serving as a resource to promote literacy by providing engaging literature.

Amanda’s Ray was written from a teacher’s perspective as a vehicle for healing while promoting literacy. It’s a coming of age novel which infuses the love of hip hop music with a dose of self esteem.

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Tachelle Shamash Wilkes has been in the entertainment industry for over ten years. She first appeared in Above the Rim with Tupac Shakur as a teenager and was hooked.  She then went and pursued a career as a journalist.  She has written for the Source, Vibe and One World Magazine and later founded , the Home Of Female Music Producers, DJs & Emcees, a movement dedicated to empowering women in the music industry. She is a New York City high school teacher who rallies around hip hop and healing infused education.  Through she co-founded one of the first all female turntablist competitions, She’s My Dj and later executive produced and directed the documentary Lady Beat Makers: Vol 1, which won her an Impact of Women in Hip Hop Award from the Hip Hop Culture Center located in Harlem.

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