This autoethnographic reflection examines the intersectional identity and mentorship experiences of the chapter's authors: the mentor and the mentees. Each author will discuss their experiences with unconventional mentorship and how it shaped their research agendas, professional careers, and personal identity through the lenses of hip-hop feminism and gendered racial identity development. Although a widespread image of hip-hop culture is often associated with gangsters, thugs, pimps, misogyny, drugs, and violence, hip-hop culture has been a means of individual expression and messages of community, peace, and social consciousness. Love explained that students who identify with hip-hop culture embody grit and social and emotional intelligence, which are predictors of academic success. The authors provide rich descriptive data by formally exploring mentoring relationships and suggest action steps to enrich the mentorship experience.
TopHustle & Flow
In the 2020 HBO Max documentary On the Record, ex- Def Jam A&R Drew Dixon recounts the moments that led to Grammy-winning hit I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By by Method Man and Mary J. Blige.
I heard an interlude. We were working on Method Man's album. And the interlude was literally Method Man, a cappella saying, “Shorty, I'm there for you anytime you need me. For real, girl, it's me in your world. Believe me,” I was like, “Wow. Well, that's dope. That's like a hip-hop sonnet. That's a song. That's not an interlude. And it should be a duet.” I remember telling Russell (Simmons), “What about Mary (J. Blige)?” He was like, “Okay.” And I remember a phone call with Puffy. And he's like, “Okay, so I have an idea for this record. Do you know the song “You're All I Need to Get By” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell? I was like, “Of course I do.” “Imagine the 'Children's Story' track.” I was like, “Oh my God! Mind blown! Yo, this is crazy! We have to do this!”
Like Dixon, this 40-year-old HBCU professor, mentor, and co-author has become skilled in putting all the pieces together. Her collaborative approach allows mentees to excel in their areas of expertise while determining where they can sample, or learn from others. The 20-something early career professionals gravitated toward their mentor for her assertive attitude and ability to generate big ideas. The “work hard, play hard” mentality of each contributor creates a unique environment to nurture researchers as they develop both professionally and personally.
While both qualitative and quantitative research support the value of mentorship, the nature of this work and the personal relationships that form are often better understood from the evocative perspective of ethnographic narratives. Thus, this autoethnographic reflection examines the identities and lived experiences of the chapter's authors. Furthermore, the researchers consider carefully how their lives are relevant to the relationship of the subject matter under investigation (Etikan, Musa & Alkassim, 2016; Wertz, 2005). Each author will discuss their how unconventional mentoring shaped their research agendas, professional careers, and personal relationships. These stories, woven together, provide a reflexive text of personal experiences within a cultural context (i.e., Black women enrolled in a historically Black university in relationship with Black women mentors). The purpose is two-fold: (a) to examine the embodiment of hip-hop feminism and gendered racial identity development within a mentor relationship through the use of self-reflection and (b) to provide approaches for Black female empowerment and success within healthy, holistic higher education mentoring relationships.