Unearthing Our Queendom: Black Feminist Pedagogy and the Social and Intellectual Empowerment of African American Girls

• In Event: 14.043 - Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: 14.043-10 - Critical Approaches to LGBTQ and Gender

Abstract

The continuing struggle for African-American female youth’s liberation is becoming increasingly tumultuous, as the evolution of urban misogyny and corresponding reductive media narratives shape much of their fragile identities in and out of schools. Drawing from Black feminist theory, and utilizing a qualitative methodology, this paper explores the immediate and long-term impact of a Black feminist curriculum on African-American female students’ orientation towards school and the development of their race and gender identities. This research offers concrete examples of pedagogical processes that engender self-actualization and an authentic craving for cultural and intellectual empowerment among young Black women. Implications for classroom pedagogy, and teacher education are explored.

Author

• Monique Lane, Teachers College, Columbia University