My Swag Is Too Tough, It Almost Tried to Fight Me: Exploring Fashion as a Critical Literacy of Black Male Youth in a Mentoring Program for Middle School Boys

• In Event: Urban Learning and Teaching

Abstract

This work begins and ends with Deshawn, his rap on “swag,” and his peers. Specifically, this study is a critical literacy-focused exploration of black urban youth fashion and intersections/disruptions of their fashion in schools with uniform/dress code policies. The work outlines the ways these students may communicate through their fashion sense and thus make sense of their identities and the identities of others as messages critically coded and decoded daily. This work is their work - the literacy practices they take part in on a daily basis. More importantly, the findings offer a small view into how their innovative practices can someday shape future policy for black students in urban schools at large…the “power of education research” at its best.

Author

• Sherrae M. Hayes, Michigan State University