Cheryl L Nicholas, Thesis Supervisor Sandy Feinstein, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Autoethnography Hip Hop Whiteness Liminality Intersectionality Youth
Abstract:
This thesis project utilizes autoethnographic methods of storytelling to explore themes of family, poverty, whiteness, “coming of age”, and the way that hip hop can serve as a guide for young people to navigate their complex lived experiences. Stories are unique teaching tools, and each story has the potential to reveal much about the individual and collective truths that we grapple with as human beings living in modern society. In this project, theoretical concepts such as intersectionality, liminality, and counter-storytelling form a foundation for the autoethnography. The stories contained within are a mosaic of vignettes from my life as a young, white, male hip hop artist navigating relationships and societal pressures on the journey to adulthood. My stories speak to larger truths of marginalized youth in non-traditional family structures, highlighting how hip hop can play a role in providing purpose and fulfillment for young people in similar situations.
