In education, in Hip Hop culture, in health, in life, joy is essential.
One of the core values of Hip Hop is “having fun.”
Too often, the stories that are told about Black, Indigenous, and other Peoples of color focus only on oppression and trauma. In a February 17 event, "Forward Together: Celebrating Black Joy in the Performing Arts," hosted by James Lick Middle School, Executive Director of the African-American Shakespeare Company Sherri Young noted that all stories need conflicts, but that Black actors often only get to portray struggles about racism. Her company focuses on adapting classic plays with real human struggles into contexts that feature black bodies. This allows for moving representations of Black joy on the stage and screen.
At the same event, Assistant Principal Cephus Johnson said, “Our kids just want to be who they are,” and, “The kids bring their own joy.”
We love to ask our students to make drawings about the things they love, what they enjoy, and to just let their own inner self come through in the way they color their fills.
And we always strive to make our classes feel free and joyful.
At the February 5, 2021 Teaching Artist Think Tank hosted by the Arts Education Alliance of the Bay Area, Aysha Upchurch spoke from her extensive experience as an artist, instructor, and education consultant.
Upchurch described her experiences of “cyphers,” where rappers or dancers create a circle and take turns performing in the center. In this format, everyone’s presence is valued and needed and “every kid feels seen.” The cipher design enables and promotes joy, especially in contrast to the typical classroom design where students are all faced toward the front of the classroom.
Hip Hop can teach us how to design a classroom to, “welcome all the genius in the room.”
We will prioritize joy in all of our Where Art Lives classes. That means we want the classes to be fun for students in the moment, and to help students tell their community about what brings them joy at any time in their lives.