Publications

Books, articles, and scholarly work by Dr. Crystal LaVoulle

Books

Book

Read, Write, Rhyme Institute: Educators, Entertainers and Entrepreneurs Engaging in Hip-Hop Discourse

LaVoulle's newest book addresses the issue of hip-hop culture's encroachment upon the school environment and the ways that hip-hop can be used for social justice. This book gives you access to conversations with various affluential members of society including both rappers & social activist, TI and Killer Mike; entrepreneurs Jason Geter of Grand Hustle Entertainment, Nekeesa Smith of NeKeesa's Natural Hair Loft, and Rondul Louder; educators, Thomas Gordon and Yusef King.

A recommended read for scholars of English, linguistics, cultural studies, religious studies, politics, globalization, race, economics, African American studies and music history. The book offers teachers and educational advocates an alternative lens for viewing hip-hop culture within a political, economic and educational context.

Book

Teaching with diversity and cultural competency in mind: Using Popular Culture Texts to Teach Social Justice

Teaching with diversity and cultural competency in mind implies that teachers recognize that there is injustice in society and that not all students are treated or educated equally in our schools. This book provides teachers with support in creating opportunities for students' voices to be heard while examining ways that other youth have used their voices to speak out against social injustices.

Using Culturally Responsive Pedagogy as a guide, this book promotes racial, social, economic, and youth justice while challenging standardization in schools.

Early Praise

"
Crystal LaVoulle has produced an incredibly thoughtful, sophisticated, and well-crafted exploration of the intersection of hip-hop, education, and cultural studies. The scope and depth of this study will impress scholars of hip-hop, as well as aficionados of the art. It is a welcome addition to a robust body of hip-hop scholarship.
Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar
Author of Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap and Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity

"
It is methodologically innovative, scholarly grounded, and poetically hopeful. For those who are interested in language Hip-Hop pedagogy, this is a must read, especially for those invested in that critical intersection of race, class, and public education.
Awad Ibrahim
Author of the Rhizome of Blackness: A Critical Ethnography of Hip-Hop Culture, Language, Identity, and the Politics of Becoming

"
Crystal LaVoulle offers educators practical suggestions for teaching critical thinking and educating for social justice.
Eleanor Renee Rodriquez
Author of What is it About Me That You Can't Teach? An Instructional Guide For the Urban Educator

Articles & Book Chapters

Book Chapter

Critical Analysis of Hip-Hop Music as Texts

Crystal LaVoulle

Taboo: Journal of Culture and Education — Volume 16 | Issue 2 | Article 7 — September 2017

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Critical Analysis of Hip-Hop Music as Texts provides insight on how hip-hop music, created as a resistant, defiant expression of thought, which presents critical views of mainstream opinions can be utilized to teach critical literacy, which analyses the way that language manipulates, persuades, informs, and entertains. Using music from popular culture values students' life experiences and lends itself to in-depth discussions of socio-political context sometimes hidden within texts.

Journal Article

Bad Bitch Barbie Craze and Beyoncé: African American Women's Bodies as Commodities in Hip-Hop Culture, Images, and Media

Crystal LaVoulle & Tisha Lewis Ellison, University of Georgia

Taboo: Journal of Culture and Education — Volume 16 | Issue 2 | Article 7 — September 2017

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In this special issue of Taboo, the authors address Beyoncé's "Lemonade" by considering the ways in which hip-hop discourse lays a foundation for generating critical discussions surrounding using the body as a commodity. We utilize Beyoncé's "Lemonade" to frame the long history of portrayals of African American women's bodies as money-making instruments and objects of sexual desire.