Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, and the New Reality of Race in America - Softcover

Kitwana, Bakari

Softcover

ISBN 10: 046503747X ISBN 13: 9780465037476

Publisher: Civitas Books, 2006

Synopsis

Our national conversation about race is ludicrously out of date. Hip hop is the key to understanding how things are changing. In a provocative book that will appeal to hip-hoppers both black and white and their parents, Bakari Kitwana deftly teases apart the culture of hip-hop to illuminate how race is being lived by young Americans. Why White Kids Love Hip Hop addresses uncomfortable truths about America's level of comfort with black people, challenging preconceived notions of race. With this brave tour de force, Bakari Kitwana takes his place alongside the greatest African-American intellectuals of the past decades.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"In Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop, Bakari Kitwana writes both of African Americans in hip-hop who demand an inclusive world and of whites who are negotiating the racial landscape. He shares his vision of a hip-hop political movement that gives voice and representation to those long ignored." --Marcyliena Morgan, Founder, Hiphop Archive

"A fearless, bracing, and expansive intellect, Bakari Kitwana persuasively argues that the hip-hop generation has transformed how race is lived in America, and could be ready to transform its political realities, too. Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop confirms his place as one of the most important thinkers of our generation." --Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation

"Bakari Kitwana has provided a myth-busting, stereotype-shattering, paradigm-shifting examination of the complex relationship between white youth and black popular culture. Eschewing tired cliches, refusing racial pieties, and resisting old habits of thought, Kitwana clears a brilliant path to fresh insight." -Michael Eric Dyson, author of Holler If You Hear Me and Is Bill Cosby Right?

"Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop is a provocative book that reveals how hip-hop has altered conventional 'racial politics.' Kitwana does not shy away from the lingering truths, stereotypes, and contradictions related to hip-hop, that result from this nation's long-standing racial hierarchy. He is clear that everyone can enjoy and experience hip-hop-but not at the expense of young Blacks who now, as in the beginning, remain its driving creative force." --Yvonne Bynoe, author of Stand and Deliver: Political Activism, Leadership and Hip Hop Culture

"Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop is a powerful, provocative book. Bakari Kitwana demonstrates not only that hip-hop is vibrantly alive, but also that its importance goes way beyond the usual controversies over lyrics and video images. In fact, it's crucial for understanding youth culture and contemporary racial politics in the United States." --Raquel Z. Rivera, author of New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone

About the Author:

Bakari Kitwana was the Executive Editor of The Source from 1994-98; Editorial Director at Third World Press; and a music reviewer for NPR's All Things Considered. He currently freelances for the Village Voice, Savoy, The Source, and the Progressive, and his weekly column, "Do the Knowledge," is published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He is the author of The Rap on Gangsta Rap and The Hip Hop Generation. He lives in Westlake, Ohio.

About this edition

• Publisher: Civitas Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 046503747X
• ISBN 13: 9780465037476
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240