Combating Antiblackness Through the Development of Spiritual Capital in the Early Years

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Nine
  In Roundtable Session: Humanizing and (Re)Imagining Unequal Childhoods to Advance Equity in Education, Research, and Practice (Table 15)

Abstract

Based on extant literature on racial-ethnic identity development, early childhood education, and spiritual socialization, we propose a conceptual framework for understanding how the Black community equips young Black children with spiritual capital. We posit that spiritual capital, or the intangible, often immeasurable wealth of the human spirit, has the potential to help young Black children develop positive racial-spiritual identities, thereby helping them to combat, disrupt and resist the impacts of both structural and interpersonal anti-black racism in their young lives. This conceptual paper offers a working definition and conceptual framework for spiritual capital, specifically as it relates to the Black community and the role it plays in the racial, social, and spiritual development of young Black children.

Authors

• Amber Neal-Stanley, Purdue University
  Presenting Author

• Danielle Allen, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author

• Jenille Morgan, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author