Scholar. Synthesizer. Tsunami.
Dr. Kashema Hutchinson is an interdisciplinary educator, cultural worker, and theorist whose work centers Hip Hop literacy as a powerful site of knowledge production, resistance, and transformation. Drawing from critical pedagogy, Black feminist and decolonial thought, she positions hip hop not merely as culture or art, but as both an epistemology and praxis: a means to read the world, unearth hidden histories, and reimagine education on terms shaped by marginalized communities.
Her scholarship and practice traverse classrooms, ciphers, and community spaces — from CUNY undergraduate courses to youth programs, correctional facilities, and grassroots workshops. Kashema designs Hip Hop infographics, curricula, and public scholarship as tools for cultural literacy, self-discovery, and collective empowerment. These tools enact the fifth element of Hip Hop — knowledge of self and community — centering voices and knowledges often excluded from traditional academic spaces.
With a PhD in Urban Education, her dissertation — “The Lopez Effect Remixed: The Significance of Mattering Through a Hip-Hop Lens in Education and Beyond” — examined the intersections of mattering, marginalization, and Hip Hop education.
Kashema’s work affirms that education doesn’t have to conform to institutional norms. Instead, she offers Hip Hop literacy and cultural memory as legitimate, transformative frameworks for knowledge, insisting that theory is not distant or abstract, but lived, performed, and remixed.
I was pursuing my Ph.D. to bring the knowledge of higher education to my community to build bridges. While doing so, I realized that not only did my community have said knowledge, we KNOW more. It’s just not recognized or valued. Now, my aim is to center our knowledge because it’s necessary.
The tenets of my work:
1. Community-Engaged and Justice-Oriented
I ground my research in lived environments such as heritage spaces, local histories, and cultural institutions. My scholarship pushes for education that’s accountable to the people it represents, not just academia.
2. Public-Facing Humanities/Theorizing in the open.
I’m not locked in the ivory tower. I translate theory into accessible formats—social media, workshops and digital storytelling. I treat the public as co-producers of knowledge. My digital work is part of my scholarship—not separate from it. I’m building an ecosystem of knowledge, not just publishing into a vacuum.
3. Hip Hop as Pedagogical Theory
Hip Hop is not just content, but a framework for:
- meaning-making
- critical consciousness
- cultural memory
- youth empowerment
- multimodal literacy
I also add nuance through Black feminist thought and diasporic histories.
4. Curriculum Development as Cultural Work
I design curricula the way emcees craft verses: responsive, dialogic, and historically rooted. My curricula is a tool for identity work and cultural continuity.
5. Race & Culture Studies Lens
I tease out underexplored intersections—how mobility, memory, language, and sound shape Black experiences.
Kashema has been featured on NPR, in Upscale Magazine and most importantly, her community.
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