Keep it Real (Media Literacy Manual)

Keep It Real is a manual for teachers and students who want to bring issues of Hip Hop, commodification and gender into the classroom.

It is a program in media literacy that aims to involve students in their own education and in the world in which they are consumers, activists, and artists. It aims to address different aspects of the Hip Hop lifestyle, from clothes to values to music to spoken word to graffiti, from a variety of perspectives. It helps students link visible, everyday aspects of Hip Hop culture to bigger issues in history, health, human rights, language, and sociology. It connects ideas in music videos to current events in the news.

Its activities and suggestions are designed for student-teacher/facilitator partnerships and purposely open-ended to trigger discussion and debate. They can be adapted and integrated into a high school curriculum, training session or workshop.