Keepin’ Up the Fight: Young Black Feminists and the Hip Hop Convention Movement

Abstract

Hip hop feminists aggressively claim hip hop as a unique space for women to come to voice using the aesthetics of hip hop, incorporating the lyrics, linguistics, rhythms, body language, and attitude that has come to be associated with hip hop in mainstream culture in their writing, teaching, and performance styles (Brown 2012, Brown 2008, Perry 2004, Pough 2004, Rose 1994). Twenty-six-year-old Newark based hip hop activist Keisha Simpson, describes hip hop feminism this way: “A woman in hip hop has one of two options: she can fall off or she can fight. It’s our position of struggle. For women that fight—by definition—they have to subscribe to some level of hip hop feminism to keep that fight up.” Working in Newark as a community economic development activist, for Keisha, hip hop feminism encompasses women’s struggles for recognition, respect, and credibility within the cultural space of hip hop. Scholars, writers, journalists, performance artists, and social critics have identified hip hop as a source of empowerment for women of color. Through hip hop women are able to boldly and unapologetically lay claim to the male dominated public sphere through the four elements of hip hop—being a female emcee, poet, b-boy/b-girl, dj, or graffiti artist—rocking the mike and moving the crowd (Perry 2004, Keyes 2000, Rose 1994).

The Convention. I think brotha’s—Black men, men of color, need to understand their maleness as well as they understand their ethnicity or race. I don’t think they get it. A lot of brothas don’t feel comfortable sitting parallel to another sister. Even the brothas who are a bit more cognizant of the gender dynamic than most. They don’t quite get it!

Keisha Simpson, 26-year-old hip hop activist

The Hip Hop Convention, in my opinion, was another significant event, because it was an attempt by the younger generation to reach out to the older generation to help us. We realized very quickly that we still had to make our own mistakes to accomplish that.

Melanie Hendricks, 26-year-old hip hop activist