AIE Committee Brings Hip Hop Literacy to Finley
Seventh grade English classes at J. Taylor Finley Middle School were recently bustin’ a move to “hip hop literacy,” an educational and fun program that taught about the history of rap and hip hop music and how it can be used to deliver positive messages today.
The Huntington School District’s Arts in Education Committee and the Huntington Arts Council collaborated to bring Linda H. Humes to Finley. She visited seventh grade English classes over a three day period.
Founder of Yaffa Cultural Arts Inc., Ms. Humes is an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. She has a theatrical background including working for PM magazine as an entertainment reporter. She’s even appeared in commercials and in television shows and films. Most recently Dr. Humes played the role of a reporter in an episode of Law & Order: SUV.
The Finley program kicked off with Ms. Humes asking students about their favorite rappers. She utilized a SMART Board to deliver a presentation on the history of rap, including its ties to Calypso and Caribbean music. She also discussed the pioneers of hip hop in the United States.
Interestingly, Ms. Humes’ cousin is Robert Ford, Jr., Billboard magazine’s first African American writer. His coverage of Russell Simmons and hip hop in general helped elevate the entire genre. Mr. Ford went on to a notable songwriting career and Mr. Simmons co-founded hip hop music label Def Jam Recordings.
Employing a charismatic and entertaining style of teaching helped Ms. Humes to capture and keep the attention of Finley students throughout each of her individual class presentations.
Ms. Humes told the seventh graders that rap is really just “poetry plus rhythm.”
The college professor asked students to explain the various English terms that are used in forming a rap, including simile, personification and metaphors. She also discussed how rapping can be used as storytelling.
The seventh graders were given an opportunity to write their own rap song. First, class members selected a theme, which had to be focused on an important issue facing the young people of the world today. Themes included immigration, world hunger, politics, bullying and even depression. One student acted as a secretary and recorded the rap.
A group of six to eight students performed the rap by improvising and adding lyrics to the refrain. Class members could be seen dancing, tapping, beat boxing and generally having a blast. Some classes performed their rap in both English and Spanish.
The raps were eventually collected, typed up and submitted to Finley Principal John Amato and the Huntington Arts Council.