A groundbreaking exposé about the alarming use of rap lyrics as criminal evidence to convict and incarcerate young men of color Should Johnny Cash have been charged with murder after he sang, "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die"? Few would seriously subscribe to this notion of justice. Yet in 2001, a rapper named Mac whose music had gained national recognition was convicted of manslaughter after the prosecutor quoted liberally from his album Shell Shocked. Mac was sentenced to thirty years in prison, where he remains. And his case is just one of many nationwide. Over the last three decades, as rap became increasingly popular, prosecutors saw an opportunity: they could present the sometimes violent, crime-laden lyrics of amateur rappers as confessions to crimes, threats of violence, evidence of gang affiliation, or revelations of criminal motive—and judges and juries would go along with it. Detectives have reopened cold cases on account of rap lyrics and videos alone, and prosecutors have secured convictions by presenting such lyrics and videos of rappers as autobiography. Now, an alarming number of aspiring rappers are imprisoned. No other form of creative expression is treated this way in the courts. Rap on Trial places this disturbing practice in the context of hip hop history and exposes what's at stake. It's a gripping, timely exploration at the crossroads of contemporary hip hop and mass incarceration.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This classic book is a powerful indictment of contemporary attitudes to race. By accusing British intellectuals and politicians on both sides of the political divide of refusing to take race seriously, Paul Gilroy caused immediate uproar when this book was first published in 1987. A brilliant and explosive exploration of racial discourses, There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack provided a powerful new direction for race relations in Britain. Still dynamite today and as relevant as ever, this Routledge Classics edition includes a new introduction by the author.

An illustrated classic featuring die-cut pages.

Racism presents itself as an undefeatable foe—a sustained scourge on the reputation of the church. Drawing on brand-new research, Christina Barland Edmondson and Chad Brennan remind us that Christ has overcome the world and offer clear analysis and interventions to challenge and resist racism's pernicious power, equipping readers to move past talk and enter the fight in practical and hopeful ways.

Race and Ideology proposes an understanding of racism as a divide-and-conquer mechanism. Race and Ideology reveals how various strands of racial thinking and behavior are crucial for maintaining the unequal distribution of wealth that is more pronounced in the U.S. than in any other advanced industrial country. Though primarily concerned with the U.S., this collection contains chapters on other societies in order to highlight commonalties and the global nature of the race/color problem. This book proposes a new understanding of racism by examining a variety of issues that show how racism and colorism, along with other forms of oppression, are interconnected and maintained by language, symbolism, and popular culture. It includes such topics as how blackness is the symbolic bottom of the U.S. social structure; how the teaching of language and culture can be a tool for understanding inequality; and how the media contribute to the dissemination of stereotypes of people of color. Race and Ideology offers provocative ideas that must be confronted if we are to construct an understanding of racism that can be useful for social change.

"Like many states emerging from oppressive political rule, Taiwan saw a cultural explosion in the late 1980s, when four decades of martial law under the Chinese National Party ended. As a multicultural, multilingual society with a complicated history of migration and colonization, Taiwanese people met their political transformation and newfound freedom with a host of stories waiting to be told and identities longing for expression. In Renegade Rhymes, ethnomusicologist Meredith Schweig shows how rap music has become a powerful outlet for exploring the complicated ethnic, cultural, and political history of Taiwan. Schweig draws on extensive ethnographic fieldwork to explain how rap's storytelling component became such a vital tool for working out Taiwanese identity and grappling with cultural history. She takes readers to rap festivals, music video sets, hip-hop clubs, and creative collectives in which members participate in rap battles and study under an experienced teacher. As Schweig shows, MCs from marginalized ethnic groups in Taiwan seized on this music of resistance, infusing it with important aspects of their own local identities, languages, and storytelling traditions. We see how these musicians localize rap as a way to challenge longstanding political mythologies and redeem individual and community narratives from the totalizing influence of government and commercial interests. Working against holes in the educational system and a neoliberal economy, new generations of rappers have used the artform to nurture associational bonds and rehearse rituals of democratic citizenship, making a new kind of sense out of their complicated present"--