Tuesday, September 02, 2008






Can't Stop, Won't Stop by Jeff Chang

We started reading Can't Stop today, and some students were lost initially; however, after we got to page 13, and stopped to reflect, I think it was clear that Chang was setting the stage for the birth of hip hop. His baseball illustration and the subsequent demise of a community: white flight, urban renewal--read: removal of affordable housing stock, the development of concentrations of low income housing projects, the influx of drugs and handguns, the structural isolation or geographic quarantine of certain people, built into the plan by developers like Robert Moses (not to be confused with Civil Rights leader, Bob Moses), was a recipe for disaster for all but the privileged.

DJ Kool Herc says, what architects of the resulting metropolis did was create a way to let society forget about the folks under the freeways, the ones passed over, left to drown in urban decay and squalor. The poor and often black and brown folks, were no longer in the game. Perhaps this is the analogy Chang is drawing with his emphasis on the first black baseball players to integrate the major leagues Jackie Robinson and his heir, Reggie Jackson. Integration went only so far for so long. The revolution stopped and with it came sabotage of all the gains, especially once key leaders were killed or defamed.

Even if you don't understand all the details here...don't get stuck in the specifics, ride the train to the end of the station. It will make sense by the time you get to the end of the chapter, certainly by the next chapter.

Read the preface and the introduction, before you write your analysis of hip hop culture and the complete the artifact assignment. We will start these presentations Wednesday.

Keep reading. Summarize the sections. It will help you understand what you read. Also, keep a vocabulary log and jot down questions in the text in the sections you disagree or don't understand. This is a history of hip hop and Chang received the American Book Award for this book.

We will read this book, supplemented by Dyson :-)and other texts, music and essays. We will start reading Elements of Style in a couple of weeks. Students should look to starting a discussion group. You can meet informally and I can host a discussion group; the best space though is right here, so engage one another in a conversation. If someone's points really clear something up for you, tell them so. If more questions are raised, which is a good thing too, tell the writer this too.

The on-line conversation is only as useful as you make it. This is a writing class, so the dialogue is helpful for us, because it is a way to get instant feedback and fine tune one's written communication skills.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I started to read the Preface and the Interlude in Can't Stop Won't Stop it was quite interesting coming from an asian guy. I really liked the fact that he pointed out that hip-hop unites all of us. But some people have turned hip-hop into the negative and instead of Keeping it real we should steady try to keep it right. That is so true. He used the words pimped and perverted I guess he was referring to the music videos that are going on today as well as back in that time. Such as Luke and certain people like Too Short and that is to just name a few. Too Short made his mark by calling women Bitch and Luke pranced all his women 3/4 naked in his videos. I am only naming a few that came up in my time. There is a whole lot more.
But this generation has taken it to a whole different level with the guns and drugs. Showing that stuff off like it is something to be praised, but then get mad when there children aren't acting right and going to jail left and right. Like Jeff Chang said lets start showing the positive side to hip-hop and best believe people will follow. Like he said its not about Keeping it real its about Keeping it right.
I enjoyed the prelude and the intro and could really feel what he was saying.

Caprice Eddington

6:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chesi Brown
English 1A
September 8, 2008
Can’t stop want stop response to chapter #1?


I agree with Caprice, chapter one is very interesting especially coming from an Asian guy. Jeff Chan is a wonderful writer he get my respect any day. In this chapter I learn a lot about issues such as, globalization, and politics. This chapter showed me where these issues originated. These situations that Jeff Chan addresses are still going on today. For example, in West Oakland rich investors are trying to poor resident move out so they can make a better property value off this area. This area in particular is important because of the accessibility and the location. The investor make up these affordable housing units just like Chan said they did in the South Bronx, or they build cheaper homes in Stockton so people who can’t afford to live in the Bay Area can go, but it’s a catch 22. When you move to these place like Stockton for instance there’s no career jobs available all you have is Wal-Mart , target, best buy, star bucks, and movie theaters. What kind of living can you make your living pay check to pay check? On the other hand the build these subsidize housing which depends on your income and as soon as you get a decent job they kick it out saying you make too much to stay there. This book is really making me think and I look forward to reading the rest of the chapter.

6:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ammnah Babikir

What I have gotten out of reading Can't stop Won't Stop, is a long detailed background of how hip hop imprinted its mark on the American society and paved the way for all other cultures who use it as a form of expressiion. Jeff Chang really seems to know what he's talking about. Asian or other, he really gives a brakedown of what hip hop is, where it originated, etc. The intro and prelude is what initially grasped my attention. I like this book.

5:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

curtis
i brought in a vibe magazine with barack obama on the cover. the presidential race is starting to close in and it is important that hip hop had a say in what is occurring. hip hop is not known for having a lot of political views but in a time like this everyone needs a little change. this magazine will reside in the hip hop archive.

11:25 AM  

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