The Hip Hop Generation: The Crisis in African American Culture [Hardcover]

Bakari Kitwana (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 16, 2002

Young blacks born between 1965 and 1984 belong to the first generation to have grown up in post-segregation America. Their historical significance is tremendous, but until now there has been no in-depth study of the African American youth who are making this important chapter in our nation's history. Bakari Kitwana, one of black America's sharpest young cultural critics, offers a sobering look at his generation's disproportionate incarceration and unemployment rates, as well as the collapse of its gender relations, and gives his own provocative social and political analysis. He finds the pain of his generation buried in tough, slick gangsta movies, and their voice in the lyrics of rap music, "the black person's CNN." By turns scathing, funny, and analytic, The Hip Hop Generation will stand as the testament of black youth culture at the turn of the century. With extraordinary insight and understanding, Bakari Kitwana has combined the culture and politics of his generation into a pivotal work in American studies.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Bakari Kitwana, a former editor at The Source, identifies blacks born between 1965 and 1984 as belonging to the "hip-hop generation" a term he uses interchangeably with black youth culture ("Generation X" applies mainly to whites, he says). He calls hip-hop "arguably the single most significant achievement of our generation," yet blames it for causing much damage to black youth by perpetuating negative stereotypes and providing poor role models. But this book is about much more than just rap music; it takes a broad look at the state of post-civil-rights black America and the crises that have come about in the past three decades, including high rates of homicide, suicide, and imprisonment and a rise in single-parent homes, police brutality, unemployment, and blacks' use of popular culture (through pop music and movies) to celebrate "anti-intellectualism, ignorance, irresponsible parenthood, and criminal lifestyles." Serious problems indeed, but Kitwana acknowledges that members of this generation have more opportunities than their parents had, and he believes there is still time to make positive and lasting changes.

He looks closely at this generation's worldview, politics, activism, and its high profile in the entertainment world, which has made it "central in American culture, transcending geographic, social, and economic boundaries." Emphasizing that "rap music's ability to influence social change should not be taken lightly," he calls for a more responsible and constructive use of this unprecedented power. Kitwana is concerned about the legacy of his generation, and he wants his book to "jump-start the dialogue necessary to change our current course." The Hip Hop Generation deserves to be read both for its aim and its execution. --Shawn Carkonen

From Booklist

Kitwana turns from "rap music [and] the hip-hop industry's insiders" to "Black youth culture." He designates African Americans born 1965-84--the first "post-civil rights" generation of black Americans--the hip-hop generation. "Although individuals [in that cohort] may point to different defining events, all share a crystal clear understanding of coming of age in an era of post-segregation and global economics." In the face of "great disparities" in education and financial matters (jobs, wages, mortgage opportunities) that persisted beyond the civil rights era, the hip-hop generation has used newfound pop-cultural access and influence to "strengthen associations between Blackness and poverty, while celebrating anti-intellectualism, ignorance, irresponsible parenthood, and criminal lifestyles" and enjoying "a free pass from Black leaders" and "non-Black critics who . . . fear being attacked as racist." Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Basic Civitas Books; 1 edition (April 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465029787
• ISBN-13: 978-0465029785
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,404,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sad, but true commentary, May 28, 2002

By 

Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hip Hop Generation: The Crisis in African American Culture (Hardcover)

Being that I was born in 1964 myself (thus my title), I can truly relate to what Mr. Kitwana laments about the lack of direction of the "hip-hop" generation and destructive courses that it is taking. I read this last night and it is an articulation of some of the concerns that I have (especially where he takes the youth to task for glorifying the likes of Tupac Shakur and Mike Tyson). How can anyone get anywhere with these kinds of people as "heroes?"

You voice needs to be heard, Bro. Kitwana. We have already lost one generation (two if you count the "Superfly" generation of the 70s who inspired/misled the hiphoppers), so we need to mentor the next one carefully before we lose another.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bakari Kitwana's No-Nonsense Rap on Hip-Hop, June 29, 2003

By 

Saer Maty Ba (Exeter, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture (Paperback)

I have enjoyed reading "The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African-American Culture" very much; Kitwana possesses a no-nonsense yet accessible prose style reminiscent of Frantz Fanon, Chuck D, Kwame Nkrumah, and/or the James Baldwin of "The Fire Next Time"; his intellectual honesty, and thought-provoking passion for the challenges facing him/young Blacks and all Hip-Hop generationers should make him a central figure in Hip-Hop culture for the foreseeable future. In our age of multifaceted globalization, Kitwana talks simultaneously to Rap music enthusiasts, and all generations, races, and nations; he deserves to be mentioned alongside respected scholars of African-American culture. I would definitely recommend the use of "The Hip-Hop Generation" as a textbook in courses on African-American Studies (post-segregation Black culture).
Having said this, as far as depth of argument is concerned Bakari Kitwana's informative and overall brilliant "The Hip-Hop Generation " is an unfinished work; I believe that his take on the SOLUTIONS to the various CRISES facing young Blacks in African-American Culture remains wanting.
To start with Kitwana combines insider's knowledge, intellectual sophistication, and scholarship to surgically identify, discuss and evaluate what he calls the "new crises" confronting post-Civil Rights/Black Power African-American youths. Be it race & gender relations, politics, employment, and Black film/music aesthetics, to name a few, nothing escapes Kitwana's sharp critical gaze. I wish though that Kitwana could muster a similar strength in the second half of his book where he deals with "confronting" these crises in African-American Culture. What is more, Kitwana the author's (understandable?) bias against financially powerful Hip-Hop generationers and simultaneous (unhelpful!) implicit support of the politically and culturally radical-separatist elements of the same generation weakens his argument about building a viable UNITED political & cultural FRONT.
"The Hip-Hop Generation" is more original in scope, and the directions it takes, than in the information given the reader about Hip-Hop per se; it still is a work in progress that cannot yet be classed as a manifesto or testament of the Hip-Hop generation: future revised/expanded editions might make this happen.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Add to "What You Should Read" List, September 27, 2005

By 

Georgio Brown Productions "Noni" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture (Paperback)

This is one of the best books for the Hip Hop generation out in circulation. His nononsense views are understandable and shed light on many current issues in society. I think everyone, parent, teacher, community leader, and political assosciate should read this book.