(Re)Membering: Black Women Engaging Memory Through Journaling

• In Event: Reimagining Literacy and Language Education for Girls of Color

Abstract

In this paper, the author alongside two Black female pre-service educators, present their memories brought forth through journaling, as a call to action for English Educators who work with Black girls and women who are consistently battered by schools and society’s silences, marginalization, and strategic erasures (Co-Authors & Author, 2018; Morris, 2018; Author, 2016). They advocate for English classrooms to shift from the traditional and linear ways of writing as they are acts of curricular and pedagogical violence against the spirits and humanity of Black girls and women (Butler, 2018; Cooper, Morris & Boylorn, 2017; Author,
2018). The questions guiding this inquiry are: What can we learn about journaling as an authentic space for racial healing in the lives of a Black female Professor and two Black female university students preparing to be secondary English teachers? What insights do the preservice teachers take away for creating loving spaces for Black girls and Black youth in their future secondary English classrooms? The paper begins by discussing writing as an act of love for Black girls and women, provides a context and methodology for journaling to engage memory and ends with pedagogical implications for Black girls and Black youth. This project reifies the important idea that research has long shown us: that opportunities for authentic writing experiences can provide spaces for students to regain some control over their identities and lives in a world where their very identity is constantly under attack. This is certainly the case as we consider the vast body of knowledge about the spirit murdering of Black students in schools (Co-Authors & Author 7, 2017; Johnson & Bryan, 2016; Love, 2016) and Black pre-service teachers in programs of teacher education (Haddix, 2017; Jackson, et al. 2017).
Journaling was utilized as racial storytelling (Johnson, 2017) which allows the author’s past to inform and guide their present and future interactions. The results are writings which restore the souls of Black girls and women while simultaneously celebrating both individual and collective humanity (Johnson, 2017; Author 4, 2018). Data consisted of the journals written by the author and two of her students, generated through a journaling practice established by the three women at a HBCU in the southeastern United States. Analysis of the journals conducted in collectivity among the three women revealed important implications for teaching in English classrooms:
1) Self-actualization invitations afforded healing because we reflected on traumas and how impacted us and analyzed how to react to similar situations differently.
2) Writing sanctuaries (Author 4, 2016) encourage students to write beyond grades and be fully engage memories in a space that is vulnerable, open, and honest.
3) Welcoming African American Language into the English classroom enhanced learning because we could express love, determine values, and build and nurture relationships, in a more generative manner.
4) Writing beside your students and displaying your truths simultaneously creates a community of learners who were willing to witness truths and acknowledge their legitimacy.

Author

• Dywanna Smith, Claflin University