Wellington City Libraries Palm Tree Blossoming of Our Children - Kia Puawai Ngā Tamariki - 10th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect

The Next-An Impression of Hip Hop Expression


Hip Hop culture, in Aotearoa New Zealand, plays an important role in many young peoples lives. Positive influences are often overshadowed by the dominant media portrayals of hip hop as being violent, gang related, masogenistic and  robbing young people of their cultural identitiy.

This session will provide a perspective of Aotearoa Hip Hop culture as articulated by the Hip Hop community, and young people who are involved in it at various levels. Participants will explore how Hip Hop has evolved both locally and globally as a social movement, how it has enabled marginalised groups to have a voice, and how it has been and is being used as a positive youth development model. These areas will be placed within four contempory themes impacting on young people.

  1. Colonisation/indigenous issues
  2. Role Models
  3. Commercialisation.
  4. Politicisation.

Background

In partnership with the Global Education Centre, Save the Children New Zealand has funded the development of an Internet-based resource that uses Hip Hop to help young people make positive life choices.
The resource, developed by the Hip Hop community, young people and youth workers, is called The Next: an impression of Hip Hop expression. It was launched on 7 September 2005 - marking the end of an intensive 2-year project.