Black Girlhood Literacies: What Every Educator Should Know

---

Why bury the lead when I can keep it plain? Every teacher needs to understand Black girls’ literacies. Through the myriad texts she birthed into this world, bell hooks reminded us time and again of the wisdom young Black girls possess. In Bone Black, hooks (1996) wrote, “Only grown-ups think that the things children say come out of nowhere. We know they come from the deepest p

arts of ourselves” (p. 24). The wisdom of young Black girls can fly under the radar of a schooling system that is anti-Black and privileges White Mainstream English.

Recently, I presented data from a study I conducted some years ago—a study focusing on the intergenerational literacies in a family of African descent.

The larger pool of data (representing all 3 generations) was quite instructive. Zooming in the lens on Hope—the youngest member who was 8 years old and in 3rd grade—was illuminating. After mining this young child’s story, I discovered the following:

•            Hope’s literacies are intertwined with her everyday life;

•            Hope’s literacies are generative and creative;

•            Hope’s literate identity conflicts with the identity her school ascribed to her (and

         Hope rebelled).

This is a mere glimpse of the findings and as you can imagine from this brief preview, educators have a lot to learn from the lived experience of Hope and her literacies. The reception from those in attendance was striking. They felt Hope’s spirit come across from the story the data told; they were invested. The questions came rolling in: How is she doing now? I really want to know. Can you say more about how Hope used her silences and why her teacher misunderstood her, and her silences?

I could have continued engaging with the educators in the room for hours but alas, time flew by and it was time to end the conversation. Before I ended the presentation, I shared some recommendations I hoped everyone in attendance would reflect upon deeply and heed in their work with Black girls.

Recommendations for Educators:

•  Examine your biases: Consider the fact that you have unexamined biases that could be at play in your interactions with the Black girls in your classrooms. I recommend taking an Implicit Association Test (IAT). 

•  Study within the lives of Black girls and their families as students: Situating ourselves as learners within the lives of Black families, such as Hope’s, removes (or at least, mitigates) educators’ white vision goggles (Love, 2019) enough to see the funds of knowledge (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992) populating their lives. This requires authentic relationship-building with Black families in thematic (as opposed to episodic) ways. 

• Embrace Black Girls’ Images of their own literate identities: Instead of ascribing identities to Black girls, trust their voice and follow their lead about who they say they are.

• Teach from a stance of faith in Black girls and their immense potential: Education as a practice of faith honors the “intergenerational strategies” young Black girls employ to make meaning, construct identity, and maintain a healthy sense of self in a complex and often-hostile world (Lindsay-Dennis, 2015, pp. 511-512).

The good news is that the conversation can continue here and in other spaces where I engage with educators committed to social justice. Are you interested in hearing more about Hope and Black girlhood literacies? Would you like to know how to better root your teaching in the literacies emanating from Black girls and their families? If you answered “yes,” I’d love to engage this topic with you! You can reach me, here at pamelajone@gmail.com. Looking forward to speaking and, perhaps, working with you soon!

 

In solidarity,

Pam J.

References

Baker-Bell, A. (2020). Linguistic justice: Black language, literacy, identity, and pedagogy. Routledge.

hooks, b. (1996). Bone black: Memories of girlhood. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Lindsey-Dennis, L. (2015). Black feminist-womanist research paradigm: Toward culturally

relevant research model focused on African American girls. Journal of Black Studies, 46(5), 506-520.

Moll, L.C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching:

Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-141. [PDF: Canvas]