Cultural Competence in the Archive: A Case Study of the University of Houston Hip Hop Collection

Abstract

Hip hop is a counter cultural movement that emerged in the 1970s in the South Bronx; it has since grown to be a global movement. It is a counter culture that emerges in the post-segregated, post-industrial, and globalized world. Since 2002, archival collections that document hip hop have manifested within academic institutions. Placing hip hop in academic institutions that have historically served as manifestations of hegemony can lead to codification and commodification. This case study examines the University of Houston Hip Hop Collection and explains the establishment of the archive using the cultural competence framework. It concludes that staff at the University of Houston is culturally competent. The case study suggests that building culturally competent archivists can be tool to ensuring representation within an archive of all facets of society.