At its core, Hip Hop Speaks program contents and methodology work together to encourage both teachers and students to see themselves as critical consumers and creators in a media-driven society.  An integral part of every Hip Hop Speaks program attempts to meet youth "where they are" by encouraging them to strengthen their core understanding of the world around them.  Using basic literacy and math concepts, as well as technology-driven art classes, Hip Hop Speaks assists students to:

1. critically examine their ethnic and popular culture and media images;

2. express themselves and their emotions through the arts, and

3. assess their strengths, weaknesses, and responsibilities as young people.

Hip Hop Speaks recognizes that traditional forms of connecting youth to home, school, and faith-based organizations no longer hold strong influence on most young people's belief structure. Instead, the greatest source of influence has become their peers, the media and the entertainment industry.  With this in mind, Hip Hop Speaks has captured student attention for the past five years by challenging students after school, in school, and through our premier summer hip-hop media arts institute to examine evidence from cultural sources students consume the most – hip hop music, film and music videos, television, and advertising—and use that knowledge to create new and exciting media of their own. 

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