inReads Alum Re-Releases Hip-Hop Book
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s iconic song, “The Message,” and in anticipation of the 40thanniversary of Hip-Hop in 2013, NBC Publishing recently announced the re-release of inReads alum Felicia Pride’s The Message: Life Lessons from Hip-Hop’s Greatest Songs as an eBook available now.
Featuring a foreword written by Chuck D, iconic member of Public Enemy, The Message is a literary mixtape of wisdom and insight culled from hip-hop’s all-time greatest songs. Pride examines a wide range of hip-hop interpreting life through the music’s lens and brings her own insights and experiences to the page. Growing up with hip-hop, she has come to realize the way it shaped how she thinks, writes, reacts and how it has helped to make her the person that she is today.
By incorporating her experiences and reflections with the rappers’ messages, Pride shares the wisdom she has learned from hip-hop and focuses on the valuable influence the music has on its audience. With each life lesson aptly titled after a hip-hop song—such as Kanye West’s “Welcome to Heartbreak,” EPMD’s “Please Listen to My Demo,” Nneka’s “Heartbeat,” or Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power”
Used in classrooms from the middle school to the university level, The Message has also become an invaluable text for educators who praise it as…
- “An instrumental text in showing an entire 9th grade how to write personal essays” - Jeannie Reynolds, Education Consultant, Teachers College Columbia University
- “A great catalyst for writing…which in turn makes [students] better, more thoughtful writers” - Nancy Ferrone Teacher, FLAGS High School
- “A must read for teachers and other professionals who work with youth,” - David Miller, Urban Leadership Institute
- “Inspiring, funny, practical, and spiritual [that] will be long put to use in my Hip-Hop class at NYU.” - David E. Kirkland, Associate Professor of English and Urban Education, New York University
Because of this increasing popularity among educators, NBC Publishing has also released, The Educators’ Guide to The Message, as a free companion eBook today. Featuring discussion prompts, standards-based lesson plans, and extension activities, the companion Educators’ Guide provides a resource to accompany Felicia Pride’s original text in the classroom. As an added bonus, an accompanying playlist is also available online to complement these texts at www.nbcpublishing.com/message.
“[THE MESSAGE] truly is a forward step culturally, back where we need to be.” -CHUCK D, Rapper, Author, Producer
“[THE MESSAGE] is a testament to the powerful impact of hip-hop music as both an art form and life force…Pride provides a unique and important perspective for why hip-hop matters.” -MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, MSNBC Political Analyst & Author of Know What I Mean
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Felicia Pride, inReads alum, is the author of seven books and a successful entrepreneur and educator whose work focuses on using media and pop culture as tools of engagement. She’s also the founder of The Message Project, an initiative that encourages young people to amplify their messages. Currently a Hip-Hop Education Fellow at New York University, her work has been featured by USA Today and NPR and she’s riffed on media, entrepreneurship, youth development, hip-hop, and writing at schools, institutions, and events around the country. Pride holds an M.A. in writing and publishing from Emerson College. Visit her online at www.feliciapride.com.
Listen: NPR’s Talk of the Nation Interview
