Clarifying the Role of Race in the Literacies and Englishes of Black Immigrant Youth

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

In keeping with the American Educational Research Association’s theme that highlights “the power and possibilities for the public good when researchers and stakeholders collaborate,” this symposium presents insights focused on race from our research with Black immigrant youth based on collaborations with universities and schools. Drawing from conceptions of racial identity, Afrocentrism, and critical race theory to raciolinguistics, linguistic racism, and Diaspora literacy in the Englishes and literacies of these youth, this symposium challenges essentialization, destructive views of “Blackness,” and societally set precedents for ‘being intelligent’, while highlighting nuances visible in the academic and invisible literacies of this unique population, empowering others to use their literacies and Englishes as a premise for fostering their linguistic identities and leadership.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Language and Social Processes

Chair

• Patriann Smith, University of South Florida

Papers

• Examining Race in Black Immigrants' Adolescents' Literacies Through Diaspora Literacy - Vaughn W.M. Watson, Michigan State University; Michelle G. Knight-Manuel, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Navigating Black Racial Identities: Literacy Insights From an Immigrant Family - Eliza G. Braden, University of South Carolina - Columbia

• Racialized Narratives of Multilingualism, Identity, and Culture Negotiation by Immigrant High School Students - Lydiah Kananu Kiramba, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Black Immigrant Student Youth Literacies in Higher Education - Alana C. Butler, Queen's University

• Translanguaging as a Gateway to Black Immigrant Collegians' Leadership - Bryan Hotchkins, Texas Tech University; Patriann Smith, University of South Florida

Discussant

• Aria Razfar, University of Illinois at Chicago