Hip-Hop Education, Culture, Movement & Empowerment with Aysha Upchurch

Aysha Upchurch of the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a guest on the podcast, Hip-Hop Can Save America!

On this episode of Hip-Hop Can Save America!, aka, ‘the world’s smartest Hip-Hop podcast,” we check back in with the dancing diplomat herself, the teacher teaching teachers how to teach through a Hip-Hop inspired lens of empowerment, Aysha Upchurch, lecturer on education, artist in residence and director of the HipHopEx Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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Peace and love, friends, neighbors, supporters and haters, welcome back to Hip-Hop Can Save America! aka the world’s smartest Hip-Hop podcast, and happy #HipHopHistoryMonth!

We often talk about the intersection of Hip-Hop and education on this show — and for good reason. It’s an area that has produced a ton of receipts showing the effectiveness of merging these two worlds for the good of our young people. This was perfectly exemplified when we covered the Can’t Stop Hip-Hop: The Education Movement conference at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and first heard form today’s guest. And while we sometimes get lost in the pedagogical weeds, I am so excited to kick it with Aysha Upchurch because not only does she expertly navigate those weeds, but her Hip-Hop spirit is always on full display — and it is that dance and movement-inspired lens through which she views her work, approaches the world, inspires and empowers others, and sparks radical change — that sits at the heart of the very concept of this show, and all my work. That Hip-Hop can save America! And most likely, all of humanity. Aysha Upchurch, I promise you, is part of that blueprint..

Now before we kick it, the usual quick but important rundown for first timers and reminders for the regulars.

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As you’ll hear from this and our other episodes, I believe there is a hell of a potential for Hip-Hop to be able to improve society and uplift humanity. As we celebrate #HipHopHistoryMonth, we must also question Hip Hop’s future, and how we’re going to be able to ensure its powers are used for good. Luckily, we have a great speaker that has some of those answers and delivers a hell of a presentation on Hip-Hop’s ability to innovate education, health & wellness, science & technology, politics and social justice, business and entrepreneurialism and more. Disclaimer, that speaker is me, but it’s still true. Visit www.hiphopspeaker.com and let’s talk about talking.

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If you forgot all that you can find all of this info at hiphopadvocay.org/links

Now, let’s get into it. Here’s my talk with Aysha Upchurch.

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