Seminar in York examines hip-hop's influence on youth
Daily Record/Sunday News
Jonathan Queen was attending high school in the late 1980s, when a new form of music spoke to him.
Hip-hop artists, such as Tupac Shakur in the following years, sang of violence and drugs. Queen knew about those things -- drugs and violence were a part of the Harrisburg street culture just like they were part of the culture of Los Angeles, he said.
"They were glorifying violence," Queen said. "I say 'glorifying' now. Back then I would have said they were painting a picture. Giving us the realistic street life. I was on the streets. I had a single parent and drug addiction in my
home."EC Holmes performed at the Boys2Men Meets Mother/Daughter seminar at William Penn Senior High School. (DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS--JASON PLOTKIN)
He dropped out of school at 16 and joined a hip-hop band, Ace Duce (his nick name was Ace), where he wrote about his own experiences.
"I got caught up in the drug culture," Queen said. When he was 23, he went to prison for 10 years on his third felony drug conviction.
As background music, hip hop "added a confidence in a negative way" during those lawless years, he said.
Today, Queen, a minister at Shiloh Baptist Church in York, tells people how potent -- and harmful -- hip-hop's message can be, as well as the potential for good that lies beneath its angry lyrics.
On Saturday, he and other local black leaders spoke at a Black History Month workshop at William Penn Senior High School. The Parent Advocates for Children Boys2Men Meets Mother/Daughter seminar included a screening of "Hip Hop: Beyond the Beats and Rhymes," a film laced with profanity and images of violence and sexuality.
"You should have been shocked by something you saw," YWCA Youth Director Mike Smith said.
Parents and teachers complained about the music's darker side, the low-hanging jeans, objectification of women and macho-violent posturing that's become the art form's dominant milieu.
However, the music cannot be ignored, said Sam Beard, president of the York City School Board.
"Hip hop, rap, is talking about the condition of the people," he said. "And we have to listen to what they say."
The art form "is not going to die," Smith said. "It has evolved into what you wear, what you think and how you're going to react."
Queen said the genre was hijacked by big media companies who exploit its negative side. That wasn't clear when he was a young man listening to the music for the first time.
"In hindsight, I can look back and see the reason why I could hear about Tupac, who was a rapper from California, and NWA and the rappers from Texas," he said.
The genre has the power to bring people together, Queen said.
"We just need to bring it back to something positive," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment