Hip-hop dance becomes a lesson for daughters - Hawaii Editorials

On May 18, my 12-year-old daughter came home from school excited about a dance she was practicing for the sixth-grade class graduation hoolaulea at Keonepoko Elementary School, in Pahoa.

[ExWaianae]

Amen! Great write up! Maybe people will wake up and actually talk to their children as you did! Kudos to you.

[cubist]

I used to do "F*** tha police" but now I do "Are We There Yet?". See how I have struggled then triumphed.

[Local Mama]

Hats off to you dad! With parents like you, your daughters will be just fine.

[alice]

I do not care for hip hop noise. I much prefer classical ballet

[DTC]

While I concur with your decision, I disagree somewhat with your characterization that "large corporations produce songs and videos that create images of blacks and Latinos and present it as hip-hop so that ignorant people will see those images as cool and try to emulate them." A lot of popular hip-hop & rap is actually produced by blacks and Latinos. Jamie Foxx, Black Eyed Peas, Flo Rida and Kayne West are examples of producers of songs which I find quite offensive in their portrayal of women. Also, I think it rather naïve for you to assume your statements would not have led to the cancellation of the dance.

[Well Done]

Don't back down. The right choice is usually the more difficult choice. But you and your family already know that. Your girls will be strong women.

[Als Bar and Grill]

Get a college degree!!!!!!!!

[Rock Bottom]

Imagine, while some are commemorating D-Day, the "teachers" are promoting hip-hop. And Fascism is a "mad beat" away, yo...

[CMK]

Great comment Nick. I struggle with this, too. One of the accessories for teens is the Ipod, Zune, whatever (I have one, too). There is a lot of great music being made called hip hop and I trace this from NYC's Last Poets from the 60's to Arrested Development to now. I've come to the uneasy understanding that some hip hop is great art, some is popular entertainment, some is vacuous bubble gum nonsense, some is dangerously explicit (for teens), some is just plain dangerous (inciting people to do stupid things in the wrong situation). As straight adult entertainment, I think some hiphop is enormously entertaining but as a parent I need to monitor my kids listening and viewing habits (garbage in, garbage out-There is no TV, at all, at our house). I salute you Mr. Osborne for taking an active role in your children's lives as I try to do in my children's lives.

[makaha wahine]

RIGHT ON DAD! Stick to your guns and later on, the girls will be telling their children how Papa taught them about this and that. Akamai oe! Aloha.

[MOWS]

I looked at the lyrics and can't understand what they mean. Maybe you are reading too much into what I see as just a good dance song.

[Kaneohe Parent]

MOWS wrote:

I looked at the lyrics and can't understand what they mean. Maybe you are reading too much into what I see as just a good dance song.

"Tootsie Roll" is a vulgar reference to female genatalia. When in doubt, check out the urbandictionary.com for information on contemporary slang.

Completely inappropriate for children. Bravo, Nick!

[astroblack]

"...hip-hop is a living thing, a movement of people, a culture of endurance, struggle and triumph. Hip-hop is the voice of the oppressed against the oppressors, the voice of those crushed into poverty and violence, the voice of those who's cultures and heritage have been stolen away, perverted and destroyed."

true. real hip-hop.
+1

[VERNON BALMER JR]

BULL FEATHERS.
It used to be, but once in the hands of the oppressor as a money making tool, it was preverted and rehashed as "Gangsta," and the lude and lascivious mindless tripe it is in some instances nowadays.