Hip Hop and Youth

In his concluding paragraph on "Hip Hop World", McBride describes hip hop as being a warning. Hip hop, as we know it, has evolved heavily from the era that McBride was recalling. However, the message of hip hop being a warning towards the older generations is still crystal clear. 

There was one specific line in that concluding paragraph that caught my eye and lends a solid foundations towards McBride's arguement. "At its best, hip hop lays bare the empty moral cupboard that is our generation's legacy". Hip hop was a way for African Americans to voice the discrimination and injustices against them. They used their music as a revolutionary movement, giving voice to their struggles and finding another home within their community. By laying bare all that had happened from the beginning of hip hop in the seventies up until 2007, McBride illustrated just how important it was that African Americans were given this gift to cry out and say "We are here". 

Hip hop was also a warning in the way that it connected with so many people. It became a worldwide hit among the youth. Even white American teens struggling with poor families were able to relate to African Americans within their verses. This could be seen as a warning to the older generations that our generation will not tolerate the injustices thrust upon us. The youth has always been looked down upon and hated for being different. Since hip hop gave such a powerful voice to the youth, that is why it was so hard for McBride and others of his generation to accept that hip hop would be a cultural phenomenon. I think it is easy for older generations to underestimate and mistreat those of younger generations. They believe that we are not capable of maintaining whatever system that the old generations developed. Different influences from different time periods further separate the young from the old. But with hip hop, it gives the youth a chance to stand their ground and fight for what they believe is right.