CURRICULUM OF THE MIND: A BLACKCRIT, NARRATIVE INQUIRY, HIP-HOP ALBUM ON ANTI-BLACKNESS & FREEDOM FOR BLACK MALE COLLEGIANS AT HISTORICALLY WHITE INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

Curriculum of the Mind is a Hip-Hop album that explores how Black male collegians at historically white institutions (HWIs) theorize and disrupt anti-Blackness in an effort to take flight or become free. Few previous studies have connected anti-Blackness to the field of higher education, and none within the field of Hip-Hop studies. This study examines how Black male collegians who currently attend, have graduated from, or have stopped attending an HWI use the fugitive space of Hip-Hop to theorize and/or disrupt anti-Blackness, to define and make meaning of what freedom is, and to narratively express their notions of freedom and experiences of anti-Blackness at HWIs. This study employs a narrative inquiry approach utilizing theoretical frameworks such as Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Black Critical Theory (BlackCrit), as well as marronage. The catalyst, or medium, used in this dissertation consists of Black male collegians creating a Hip-Hop album that aesthetically illustrates their individual and collective theorizations of anti-Black experiences at HWIs.