Hip-Hop and Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline was created for K-12 students in hopes that they find tangible strategies for creating affirming communities where students, parents, advocates and community members collaborate to compose liberating and just frameworks that effectively define the school-to-prison pipeline and identify the nefarious ways it adversely affects their lives. This book is for educators, activists, community organizers, teachers, scholars, politicians, and administrators who we hope will join us in challenging the predominant preconceived notion held by many educators that Hip-Hop has no redeemable value. Lastly, the authors/editors argue against the understanding of Hip-Hop studies as primarily an academic endeavor situated solely in the academy. They understand the fact that people on streets, blocks, avenues, have been living and theorizing about Hip-Hop since its inception. This important critical book is an honest, thorough, powerful, and robust examination of the ingenious and inventive ways people who have an allegiance to Hip-Hop work tirelessly, in various capacities, to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.

Daniel White Hodge, Ph.D. is a recognized urban youth culture expert & cultural literacy scholar. Dr. Hodge is Professor of Intercultural Communications at North Park University in Chicago where he chairs the Department of Communication Arts and is research lead for the Catalyst_ _ 606 program. His research interests are the intersections of faith, Hip-Hop culture, race/ethnicity, and young adult ethnic-minority emerging generations. Don C. Sawyer III, Ph.D. is Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and Associate Professor of Sociology at Quinnipiac University. He earned his Ph.D. in sociology and M.S. in cultural foundations of education from Syracuse University. He is an applied sociologist and ensures most of his research projects are in partnership with local communities. Anthony J. Nocella II, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology in the Institute of Public Safety at Salt Lake Community College. He is the editor of the Peace Studies Journal, Transformative Justice Journal, and co-editor of five book series including Critical Animal Studies and Theory with Lexington Books and Hip Hop Studies and Activism with Peter Lang Publishing. He has published over fifty book chapters or articles and forty books. Ahmad R. Washington, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development at The University of Louisville. His research interests include African American males' ethnic and gender identity development and social justice school counseling interventions. He has either contributed to or produced independently more than thirty manuscripts and national, regional and state presentations. Most recently, he is co-editor of Black Male Student Success in 21st Century Urban Schools: School Counseling for Equity, Access and Achievement.