On Being Ed Emcees: Toward Hip-Hop Educational Leadership Theory, Research, and Praxis

ABSTRACT

Advocating for the advancement of hip-hop based education, critical qualitative research, and leadership for educational equity, I explain a theory of hip-hop educational leadership and discuss findings from my hip-hopography of hip-hop educational leaders who are spoken word artists, poets, rappers, or emcees and serve as community partners inside urban high schools across the United States. Using blackout poetic transcription to analyze data, I suggest that these individuals can be called educational emcees, who invoke love as a condition for learning and engagement in their schools through a series of meaningful practices. These individuals also embody poetry and spoken word as an organic hip-hop pedagogy. Opportunities for additional qualitative research about hip-hop educational leadership and educational emcees are presented, along with implications for education leadership preparation, recruitment, and development.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. “A zine (/ziːn/ ZEEN; short for magazine or fanzine) is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine” (Wikipedia, 2023, para. 1).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anthony R. Keith

Anthony R. Keith Jr. is an award-winning spoken word artist and poet and the Founder and CEO of Ed Emcee Academy. He embodies hip-hop pedagogy leadership and research methods and writes about racial equity in education and the politics of Black language. For more information, visit his website at www.tonykeithjr.com