american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
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CONTESTATORY URBAN AGENCY 155<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir own culture or music, a po<strong>in</strong>t echoed by rapper Bro<strong>the</strong>r Ali, who<br />
claims that hip-hop is “not ours anymore. It used to be antiestablishment,<br />
off <strong>the</strong> radar, counterculture. People <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> streets are<br />
now be<strong>in</strong>g told what hip-hop is and what it looks like by TV”<br />
(Kitwana). It is starker <strong>in</strong> dead prez’s “I’m a african” (let’s get free),<br />
which states unequivocally that urban actors are “made” by <strong>the</strong> social<br />
conditions <strong>in</strong> which <strong>the</strong>y live: “my environment made me <strong>the</strong> nigga<br />
I am.” The truth is somewhere between <strong>the</strong>se two poles (as are most<br />
hip-hop conceptions of agency), but <strong>the</strong>y are useful <strong>in</strong> def<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong><br />
prelim<strong>in</strong>ary terms of contestatory urban agency. They provide <strong>the</strong><br />
outer boundaries for action <strong>in</strong> urban neighborhoods, but <strong>the</strong> scene is<br />
usually much more complicated than ei<strong>the</strong>r position asserts.<br />
The tension between act<strong>in</strong>g accord<strong>in</strong>g to one’s purposes and negotiat<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>the</strong> constra<strong>in</strong>ts of racism and socioeconomic <strong>in</strong>equality frames<br />
many conceptions of agency <strong>in</strong> hip-hop. Rappers often style resistance<br />
as fundamentally possible with<strong>in</strong> urban landscapes that work aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />
<strong>the</strong> goals and aspirations of poor, young, mostly African American<br />
agents. In her book on hip-hop culture, Tricia Rose emphasizes <strong>the</strong> tension<br />
between <strong>in</strong>dividual agency and <strong>the</strong> determ<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g social and <strong>political</strong><br />
counterforces for poor urban actors. It is dangerous, she writes, to<br />
“overemphasize <strong>the</strong> autonomy of black agency <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> face of massive<br />
structural counterforces.” The desire to preserve agency, she po<strong>in</strong>ts out,<br />
must not result <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> elision of <strong>the</strong> “structural forces that constra<strong>in</strong><br />
agency” such as racism, poverty, and <strong>the</strong> lack of resources and adequate<br />
education. She concludes that <strong>the</strong> desire for <strong>in</strong>ner-city youth to exercise<br />
<strong>in</strong>dividual agency/free will “outside of racist and discrim<strong>in</strong>atory contexts<br />
with<strong>in</strong> which such action takes place” is an illusion (141–142).<br />
Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Rose’s view, any lyrics that stress autonomy and <strong>the</strong> formation<br />
of purposes as wholly <strong>in</strong>dividual are <strong>in</strong>complete and mislead<strong>in</strong>g<br />
if <strong>the</strong>y do not also acknowledge that all actions are responses to a variety<br />
of conditions, some of which constra<strong>in</strong> possibilities for action.<br />
Whereas such a view is accurate from a practical standpo<strong>in</strong>t, it can limit<br />
<strong>the</strong> range of expression for lyrics as <strong>political</strong> statements (or revolutionary<br />
pronouncements). Foreground<strong>in</strong>g autonomy and agency is often<br />
part of a rhetorical strategy <strong>in</strong>tended to uplift or organize potential<br />
actors. In some cases (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Jean Grae’s song), it serves to <strong>in</strong>spire<br />
and to mobilize energy for positive social change. If rappers give too<br />
much weight to agency and too little to constra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g factors, it may be<br />
strategic as well as unrealistic.<br />
There is <strong>in</strong> hip-hop, <strong>the</strong>n, a palpable discursive tension between<br />
agency and <strong>the</strong> determ<strong>in</strong>ate factors that limit agency for urban youth.<br />
Stuart Hall’s dist<strong>in</strong>ction between determ<strong>in</strong>ism and determ<strong>in</strong>ation,