Session at Council on Foundations Annual Conference

Hip Hop Arts in Education

Hip hop performers, writers, artists, and educators are forming exciting collaborations to promote literacy and build social awareness among students. Using hip hop culture as an educational tool and unifying force,Hip Hop leaders are engaging artists; developing curriculums, training teachers, and enlisting educational, research, and art institutions, as well as neighborhood centers as partners. The session will highlight the hip hop art as a tool to facilitate critical thinking, cultural literacy, and leadership development; and hip hop’s viability as an instrument for social change.

This session will include a brief performance by teen-age spoken word poets Carzen Lissant and Ceez, who perform as a duo. Both are students at Urban Words in New York, and performed at the Grantmakers in the Arts conference on October 2009 to great acclaim.