Necessary Knowledge: How Intersectional Interrogations of Power Shape the Civic Identity of Girls of Color

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 25
  In Roundtable Session: Enacting Liberatory Pedagogy: Community-Based Programs and the Creation of Critical Educational Opportunities for Girls of Color

Abstract

In this critical qualitative study, I pursue a line of inquiry stemming from a pilot study in which I explored the experiences of girls of color participating in the Sadie Nash Leadership Program (SNLP); a New York City based non-profit organization committed to programming focused on social justice, activism, and leadership. The pilot study focused on their experience in Power, Identity, and Privilege (PIP); a course designed to deepen participants’ understanding of key concepts and issues regarding the operation of power, oppression, and privilege at the interpersonal and institutional level. PIP also seeks to foster critical thinking, collaborative learning, and self-examination and actualization. A significant finding from this study was participants’ desire for opportunities to engage in critical discussions about issues of power which was often seen as “taboo” in their schools. They viewed opportunities to engage with these topics as critical in their process of understanding systems of oppression. Building on these findings, I investigate the following questions: How do girls of color utilize Power, Identity, and Privilege (PIP) course content and learning experiences to make sense of the operation of power in their schooling and everyday experiences? In what ways do the aforementioned knowledge and experiences inform the civic engagement practices of girls of color?

Nicole Mirra and Antero Garcia (2017) propose the need to “rethink the civic educational approaches currently implemented and researched and, perhaps, look at how youth anger, sense of disenfranchisement, and disappointment in the current socioeconomic landscape can open up the space to reimagine civic possibilities today” (p. 153). This study takes up Mirra and Garcia’s call by engaging with the unique and diverse experiences of girls of color as it pertains to the curriculum and pedagogy employed in a course about power, identity, and privilege and its utility as a critical civic literacy course. I utilize intersectionality as analytical framework to foreground revelations that are only rendered visible through interrogations of power that take into account multiple social and political identities. My aim is to engage in a process of unflattening that allows for a more nuanced and holistic understanding of the knowledge and experiences that shape the civic identity of girls of color. I draw on data from multiple focus groups with former SNLP summer institute participants as well as individual interviews with six focal participants in addition to an analysis of their multimodal journal reflections (video, audio, written). Through my analysis, I found that participation in PIP bolstered the girls’ confidence to express their views on sociopolitical issues as well as question and/or challenge oppressive remarks made by peers and adults. In addition, many of the girls were motivated to participate in social justice initiatives taking place in their schools or other organizations. The major findings of this study suggest that girls of color benefit from participation in critical interrogations of power that strengthen their ability to make sense of how their intersecting identities influence the ways they experience, navigate, and practice civic engagement in relation to issues of power.

Author

• Tashal Brown, University of Rhode Island