Category: pop-culture-pedagogy

Dungeons and Dragons in AP Lit – Part 2 – How I Set Up the Unit

[This post is part of a broader project I'm calling "Pop Culture Pedagogy" where I write about ways pop culture finds its way into my classroom] How I Tried to Make This Work in the Classroom [I will write more later about how the individual class days went as things got moving, and also how … Continue reading Dungeons and Dragons in AP Lit – Part 2 – How I Set Up the Unit →

Dungeons and Dragons in AP Lit – Addendum to Part 1 – White Supremacy – What Counts as “Literature”

[This post is part of a broader project I'm calling "Pop Culture Pedagogy" where I write about ways pop culture finds its way into my classroom] “What do D&D, the Odyssey and Hip-Hop Have in Common?” This question may feel strange because your vision of D&D may conjure up some very specific images of a … Continue reading Dungeons and Dragons in AP Lit – Addendum to Part 1 – White Supremacy – What Counts as “Literature” →

Dungeons and Dragons in my AP Lit Classroom – Part 1 – Why Did I Want to Try This?

[This post is part of a broader project I'm calling "Pop Culture Pedagogy" where I write about ways pop culture finds its way into my classroom] Part 1 - Where Did I Get this Idea?  - Or - What do D&D, the Odyssey and Hip-Hop Have in Common? Ever since I first read The Singer … Continue reading Dungeons and Dragons in my AP Lit Classroom – Part 1 – Why Did I Want to Try This? →

Twice Inna Lifetime (Track 13) and Conclusions about Teaching

[This is the final part of a longer series – previous track - "Thieves in the Night"] https://www.youtube.com/embed/DZ7dlo3PWhk Reaching the end of these posts I'm brought back to the beginning, the first time I listened to Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star. I got to "Twice Inna Lifetime", about 4.5 miles into the 5 mile … Continue reading Twice Inna Lifetime (Track 13) and Conclusions about Teaching →

Hater Players (Track 9)

[This is part 9 of a longer series – previous track - "KOS (Determination)" - next track - "Yo Yeah"] https://www.youtube.com/embed/3iewg3zp-yI This song seems to come pretty hard at the same folks that “Re-Definition” was going after but a little more in the vernacular of a more straightforward diss track.  About halfway through, though, we get this … Continue reading Hater Players (Track 9) →

K.O.S. (Determination) (track 8)

[This is part 8 of a longer series – previous track - "B Boys Will Be Boys" - next track - "Hater Players"] https://www.youtube.com/embed/kETkgRNSVzk One of the great programmatic statements of the album begins this track, after a side conversation - So many MC’s focus in on Black people exterminationwe keep it balanced with that knowledge of … Continue reading K.O.S. (Determination) (track 8) →

“B Boys Will Be Boys” (Track 7)

[This is part 7 of a longer series – previous track - "Brown-Skinned Lady" - next track - "KOS (Determination")] https://www.youtube.com/embed/2YVrdLEeKMU As one catalog ends - from the end of "Brown-Skinned Lady," calling in the great circle of “indigenous women of the planet earth,” another more local (and masculine) one begins, as Mos Def and Talib Kweli … Continue reading “B Boys Will Be Boys” (Track 7) →