Informal Black Educational Space: Tracing the Shifting Conceptions of Pan-Africanism

• In Event: 81.032 - MTCC Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: 81.032-6 - Cartographies of Black Educational Experiences: Spaces, Memories, and Mentorship

Abstract

Our paper draws from a year-long critical participatory ethnographic study on the impact of an informal Black educational space in a midwestern city. We found the Community School of Black Thought (CSBT) is intergenerational, which participants across age described as one of the more powerful experiences. Additionally, we found that participants were drawn to CSBT because of prior experience. There were misconceptions of what participants believed non-attendees perceptions of the CSBT were compared to their own experiences.This community-engaged research with CSBT provides an example of how research can play an active role in the work of the CSBT as an activist and pedagogical element as well as contribute to the creation of multimodal narratives in a post-truth era.

Authors

• Shakita Thomas, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Brian Lozenski, Macalester College