User:DwightKSchrute

= FINAL REFLECTIONS ON WIKIEDU: AFPRL290.26 =

As a result of taking Intro to Hip Hop and Hip Hop Culture, I have learned an ample amount, not only about the overall topic, but additionally about myself. By using the materials given by the professor, I have been able to utilize them in a way that has made me more aware of academic areas I am successful in and ones that still need to be improved. Furthermore, these topics were able to relate back to hip hop culture as well as society overall.

One assignment that particularly stood out to me during this course was the Youtube video based on Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers regarding deliberate practice. As I watched this video, I was able to relate many of these experiences to my personal life. Growing up, I believed I was terrible at math when, in reality, I was just too frustrated to put in the amount of effort I needed to receive the grades I wanted. Secondary school has taught us that, if you don’t get it right the first time, you must be awful at it. I have come to terms with the fact that this is simply not the case.

This idea was emphasized even further when being assigned the Foucault exercise. It was aggravating trying to think of several categories that were completely different from each other in reference to hip hop. However, this also taught me that asking for help does not make you a weak student. I used to be extremely embarrassed to ask for help; however, this class made it a point to debunk this misconception. My revision of the exercise with the help of my peers was significantly better than the original. I was able to get multiple opinions to how I should change what I first wrote and why I should change it.

These same concepts can be applied when discussing why the use of Wikipedia was applied to this class. Focusing specifically on topics in hip hop, I was able to be a part of making topics more well rounded in displaying different points of view. While a majority of the people on Wikipedia are white males, hip hop culture is something owned by blacks. Therefore, it is the most valuable when people like us edit the articles to make them the most accurate. Since we are the people who actually experience the oppressions discussed in the music of hip hop, it is important that we spread the knowledge we have through mediums that allow us to do so.

Through further exploration of Wikipedia, we can learn what topics are not common knowledge to the average person. For example, through reading pages about graffiti, I noticed that it is evident that many people do not discuss the idea that at the hight of the use of graffiti, many people tried to stop it from happening. While it was seen a way for young people to creatively express themselves by some, law enforcement spent a great amount of energy promoting the idea that it is strictly vandalism and those who participate in it should be prosecuted. Additionally, on the Wikipedia page for the documentary Style Wars, (a PBS film that focused on the history of graffiti) this perspective was completely left out and I was able to add it. It is crucial that we add these ideas into the website in order to make sure that the struggles graffiti artists had to endure throughout their artistic lives are not brushed over and forgotten.

Although it is often dismissed as something offensive and dangerous, all the branches of hip hop were and continue to be an extremely influential part of the African American community. However, naturally, history begins to be forgotten if it does not continue to be taught. This proves why it is essential that we continue to study hip hop today both in schools and in our outside research as well as promote its importance through forums such as Wikipedia.