Fight the Power: Law and Policy through Hip-Hop Songs

by Gregory S. Parks (Editor), Frank Rudy Cooper (Editor)

Overview

Taking inspiration from Public Enemy's lead vocalist Chuck D - who once declared that 'rap is the CNN of young Black America' - this volume brings together leading legal commentators to make sense of some of the most pressing law and policy issues in the context of hip-hop music and the ongoing struggle for Black equality. Contributors include MSNBC commentator Paul Butler, who grapples with race and policing through the lens of N.W.A.'s song 'Fuck tha Police', ACLU President Deborah Archer, who considers the 2014 uprisings in Ferguson, Missouri, and many other prominent scholars who speak of poverty, LGBTQ+ rights, mass incarceration, and other crucial topics of the day. Written to 'say it plain', this collection will be valuable not only to students and scholars of law, African-American studies, and hip-hop, but also to everyone who cares about creating a more just society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781009011532
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/03/2022
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.71(d)

About the Author

Gregory Parks, a trained psychologist and lawyer, is Associate Dean and Professor of Law at Wake Forest University School of Law. He has authored or edited eleven books including A Pledge with Purpose: Black Sororities and Fraternities and the Fight for Equality (New York University Press, 2020).

Frank Rudy Cooper is William S. Boyd Professor and Director, Program on Race, Gender & Policing, UNLV Boyd School of Law. He is an expert in the intersectionality of identities and policing. His extensive publications include Masculinities and the Law: A Multidimensional Approach (New York University Press 2012).

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. Policing: 1. From 'Fuck tha Police' to defund the police: a polemic, with elements of pragmatism and accommodation, hopefully not fatal, as black people hope about encounters with the police Paul Butler; 2. Hip hop and traffic stops Henry L. Chambers, Jr.; 3. 'Black Cop': it's a blue thing (or is it?) Kami Chavis; 4. 'Illegal Search': race, personhood, and policing Roger A. Fairfax, Jr.; 5. 'Cops Shot the Kid': police brutality, mass incarceration, and the reasonableness doctrine in criminal law Kristin Henning; Part II. Imprisonment: 6. Trauma andré douglas pond cummings; 7. Black steel in the hour of chaos Gregory S. Parks; Part III. Genders: 8. Roxanne Shanté's 'Independent Woman': making space for women in hip hop Lolita Buckner Innis; 9. From the 1930s to the 2020s: what ice cube's song 'Endangered Species' meant for four generations of black males Robert Pervine, Kevin Brown, Charles Westerhaus, and Kynton Grays; 10. The master's tools will not dismantle the master's house: hip hop, young M.A., and gender norms Zoe Smith-Holladay and Catherine Smith; Part IV. Protests: 11. 'Black Rage' and the architecture of racial oppression Deborah Archer; 12. Abolition as reparations: 'This is America' and the anatomy of a modern protest anthem Brie McLemore and Margaret Eby; 13. The message: resisting cultures of poverty in urban America Etienne C. Toussaint; 14. 'Just To Get By': poverty, racism, and smoking through the lens of Talib Kweli and Nina Simone's music Ruqaiijah Yearby.

Editorial Reviews

'This book’s impactful coverage of critical topics such as racism, policing, protest movements, and gender progress should be a must read for undergraduate courses in African-American Studies, Criminal Justice, and Gender Studies. The Editors have ensured that the chapters are both insightful and accessible.' L. Song Richardson, President, Colorado College

'The legal issues raised by this book are crucial for law students to understand. From police racism to mass incarceration to gender norms to the Black Lives Matter movement, these are topics lawyers need to understand. The fact that the analyses emerge from popular hip-hop songs makes them all the more enjoyable to read.' Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Dean, Boston University School of Law

‘… confirms the continuing relevance and importance of hip-hop through its analyses of song lyrics condemning dire living conditions and police brutality. It is required reading for anyone concerned about racism, law, and social justice.' Latia Ward, Feminist Legal Studies

From the Publisher