Living Hip Hop Feminism Summary

Uju Nwizu
ASRC 4402
Final Paper
December 12, 2016

Voices of Resistance: Transnational Discourses in Afro-Diasporic Hip-Hop Feminism In "Using [Living Hip-Hop] Feminism: Redefining an Answer (to) Rap”, Aisha Durham defines hip-hop feminism as “a socio-cultural, intellectual and political movement grounded in the situated knowledge of women of color from the post civil rights generation who recognize culture as a pivotal site for political intervention to challenge, resist, and mobilize collectives to dismantle systems of exploitation” (305). In essence, hip-hop feminism is an intersectional tool dedicated to analyzing and confronting representations of racialized gender and sexuality in hip-hop and beyond (Durham 11). Yet, while this movement

Pough defines hip-hop feminism as “an epistemology grounded in the experiences of communities of color under advanced capitalism, [and] a cultural site for rearticulating identity and sexual politics” (Pough 261). Similarly, Durham proposes that hip-hop feminism is a movement that uses culture to “dismantle systems of exploitation” (305). These systems of exploitation are rooted in anti-blackness and colonialism by which African inferiority is essential to white superiority, becoming a driving force for western capitalism (Gilroy 73). More importantly, these tools of oppression are not limited to the United States. Anti-blackness, western capitalism and colonialism reflects a long intertwined history that crosses geo-political boundaries of America. Thus, if hip-hop feminism is “grounded in the experiences of color under advanced capitalism” and a movement to “dismantle systems of exploitation” then the transnational narratives of Afro-diasporic women warrant are included in hip-hop feminism. It is important that these narratives are sought out and critically engaged to form a decolonized view of hip-hop

The queer hip-hop MC hails from Elsies River, a “working class township” located in Cape Town, South Africa. Under apartheid, Elsies River was defined as a “colored” neigborhood. “Colored” referred to people of mixed descent, seperating communities that might have otherwise identified as black. Such racial categorization was used to create a racial hierarcy with whites at the top and blacks at the bottom (“Queering Hip-Hop”). While apartheid has since been eradicated, its legacy is still felt as the country failed to address racialised economic inequalities. This is the setting in which socially conscious hip-hop groups in South Africa began. Groups like Prophets of da City challenged issues of race, class, and language during the 1990s. However, as was the case with mainstream US hip-hop, these groups were largely cis-heterosexual men. Thus, Dope Saint Jude identity and artistry presents a counter-hegemonic narrative to South Africa’s hip-hop scene. Dope Saint Jude transforms South-African hip-hop with her queer politics, rupturing the invisibility of black queer women in the music