Four Questions with Kashi Johnson

Innovator Kashi Johnson’s Act Like You Know hip-hop theatre course celebrates a decade of memorable acts with its 10th anniversary show at the Zoellner Arts Center in April. An actress and director, Johnson is professor of theatre.

Act Like You Know encourages students to find their voice and speak their truth through the embodied act of performance. How has this helped your students?

Many of my students find themselves attracted to Act Like You Know because of the unique opportunity the class provides for them to find their voice, by digging deep in order to explore subject matter they feel passionately about, which oftentimes lands on topics very personal to them. By encouraging them to use the platform of hip-hop as a creative tool of self-expression, students are empowered to celebrate their identities and speak truth to power in truly transformational ways. Once students discover the power of their words, dance moves and rhymes, and experience what it means to speak truth to power—they’re hooked.

What themes or issues come to the surface most often?

It depends on the class and who’s enrolled in a given semester. As varied as the students are, so are their lived experiences, and thus, the subject matter... changes according to the student, their life and the story they want to tell.

Over the years, student performances have touched on everything from mental illness and sexual assault to domestic violence and self-acceptance.

Why is hip-hop such a powerful tool for expression?

From its inception, hip-hop has powerfully situated social justice concerns, while expressing political consciousness and raising cultural awareness. Hip-hop was started in the early ’70s by marginalized black and Latino youth who were in search of belonging, despite their poverty, and lack of employment and educational opportunities. Out of nothing, they created hip-hop, a powerful cultural art form that invites everyone to “get in where they fit in,” meaning, whatever talents and abilities you possess, under the umbrella of hip- hop you can share your skills as an MC, DJ, break-dancer or visual artist. Everyone can fit under the umbrella, and it is this inclusivity which makes it a truly powerful medium.

What challenges did you face in encouraging students to declare who they are?

It really depends on the student and where they are in their life, when we connect in class. Some students take the course knowing they are going to be pushed beyond their comfort zone, while others resist...initially. In the cases where students face difficulty, I always encourage them to trust the process as they lean on the safe, trusting environment of the class, to overcome their lack of confidence and fear of speaking truth to power. Every student comes to their moment of reckoning in their own time, in their own way. The payoff for me is, I get to be there when it happens.

For more information on the Act Like You Know: 10-Year Anniversary Show, click here.