Customer Reviews

The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture

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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.

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.

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.

I appreciated Kitwana's presentation of the current issues facing today's hip hop generation. Interesting and insightfuul was the comparisions of the generation and that of the Civil Rights/Black Power generation. This book stands strong is providing a foundation on which to further examine these issues and to use the strong influential power within this generation to finally begin to resolve them.

I enjoyed this! Me, as a baby-boomer always had problems with the concept of hip-hop, but this book shade some light on the why's and other aspects of hip-hop that I was unaware of. This book is definitely for people of my generation or any generation who ever wondered about hip-hop and why our young people think and feel the way the do.

Reading this book was really eye-opening for me, and I would say the insight provided in the book really is priceless to anyone who cares to understand why race relations in America are the way they are. Of course, plenty of people don't care why and they won't bother reading this, but for those of us who do, I can't recommend it more highly!

This is a well written book, but its in the clearance section for a reason. Its not the most intelligent, and not the most thorough, but it is a good read for the money.

This is a very good book that clearly illustrates the evolution of the current African American movement- the Hip Hop Generation. The Author, Bakari Kitwana does a good job of comparing and contrasting this movement with the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements of our parents time. Kitwana clearly illustrates the good, bad, and ugly of our current movement and the things we most do to NOT repeat the shortcomings of the previous movements. Kitwana also explains the steps we must take to leave our positive mark in History.

While the book explains that our generation must be more politically aware and activist-minded, more emphasis should have been placed on the vital role economic development plays in this movement in order for us to make a profound impact in our communities.

I like the crisis in african american culture and the hip hop generation because it allows me to know what is going on in the world. Reading that book taught me how to give back to my community if I ever had fortune and fame. It talks about how people should stick together like flies to feces rather than be against each other. It talks about how the military should give money to the community rather than spend money to send people to Iraq and have their lives taken. It talks about how the military should fight for democracy. Those are some of the things that I've benefited from the book. I think the book is interesting. I would recommend the book to anyone who is into stuff like the crisis that african american have.

This one is good for the parents of teens and especially for the white parents to know whats up with there children and why they want to be like us. This is the only hip hop book you will ever need. This book was on hit!