“Hip-hop was my first love…no matter what the vehicle has been hip hop has been the engine that has driven me,” said Dr. Jabari Evans, the new Assistant Professor of Race and Media at the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
“Hip-hop was my first love…no matter what the vehicle has been hip hop has been the engine that has driven me,” said Dr. Jabari Evans, the new Assistant Professor of Race and Media at the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Dr. Evans had an exciting journey to becoming a college professor. At around thirteen years old, he started to develop a passion for hip-hop by partaking in hip-hop culture in the southside of Chicago, where he grew up. This passion for music followed him into college, where he and a friend created a mixtape that allowed them to begin performing, including opening for Common and Talib Kweli. In 2004, he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Mass Communications from the University of Pennsylvania. Shortly after graduation Dr. Evans got a record deal and entered the entertainment industry as a rapper. He worked several years as a rapper under the name Naledge with his DJ and friend Michael Aguilar who went by Double O. After reaching a stalemate in his career Dr. Evans switched gears and returned to school to earn his doctoral degree in Media, Technology, and Society from Northwestern and shortly after was hired by the University of South Carolina.
As an Assistant Professor of Race, Dr. Evans teaches courses and conducts research related to media and race. I am a student in his Minorities, Women, and the Mass Media course, which explores the intersectionality of race, gender, and sexuality in media. Our class discussions on how African Americans are portrayed in media led me to interview Dr. Evans on his research. His overall research focuses on how African American youth use digital media for self-expression. His main research question is how creative black youth use social media to forge an identity and think about their professional careers. When I asked about his methodology, he partly described it as "deep hanging out," which involves interviewing and observing black youth in their unique environments. In addition to talking and watching youth, he conducts digital ethnogeography, which studies unique cultures through their use of the digital world. This type of research requires him to ask subjects to view their social media pages and follow them on different platforms. Dr. Evans explained that such work was necessary because you cannot get a complete picture of a person's way of life in today's society without also looking at their life online. Since this project is a qualitative study that requires much time, Dr. Evans sees himself working on it for several months to a year and plans to publish his findings in a book. The project's overall goal is to understand black youth better with the expectation that the research can lead to changes in policy and help schools better consider the needs and interests of minority youth. Specifically, he said, "I am a big advocate for reforming music education to think about cultural art forms to be a part of formal music education." He believes such reform could help future African American youth feel more included in the school environment and help them succeed academically
Specifically, he said, "I am a big advocate for reforming music education to think about cultural art forms to be a part of formal music education." He believes such reform could help future African American youth feel more included in the school environment and help them succeed academically.
When I decided to interview Dr. Evans, my main hope was to see how what I am learning about race and the media in class translated to actual research, and I was not disappointed. As the world continues to embrace the digital age and youth continue to use social media, I believe that Dr. Evans' work is extremely valuable and necessary. By observing and studying how black youth use technology and social media, we can help increase digital literacy in the black community and help black youth hone their digital skills in ways that will enhance their achievements. I find Dr. Evans' research vital and exciting, and I would enjoy assisting him. Being an African American youth myself, I would find it personally edifying to learn how my peers use social media. As I pursue a career in broadcast media, I need to understand how people in my community interact with media. Participation in this type of research would help give me such insight.
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