Black Womanist Epistemology and Experience at the Nexus of Truth-Telling in Consequential Scholarship

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

From sandbox to academy (and all points between and beyond), Black girls and women demonstrate incredible wherewithal to deflect negative encounters in ways unmatched by other segments of the U.S. population. The notion of Black girl magic alludes to the remarkable ways they emerge whole from untenable realities and circumstances. Such capacity, theorized compellingly through Black womanist epistemology (BWE), is indisputably valuable and it has widespread utility across various realms. Presenters in this symposium detail the utilization of BWE at the nexus of truth telling across diverse scholarly foci where Black women and girls have been challenged and even disparaged, yet still they rise. Implications explored for how BWE can advance counter-performativity justice agendas in education institutions and beyond.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in Education

Chair

• Patricia L. Marshall, North Carolina State University

Papers

• Multicultural Environmental Education and Wilderness Therapy: A Framework for Black Girl Magic - Tatiana Cherelle Height, Alcorn State University

• Cultivating Black Girl Magic in Mathematics Classrooms: A Literature Review on K–12 Spaces - Brittany L. Marshall, Rutgers University

• Our Stories Matter: The Higher Education Experiences of Afro-Caribbean Women in the United States - Renata A Halls-Gordon, North Carolina State University

• Toward a Black Womanist Conception of Affirming (Third) Spaces for Black and Afro-Latina Girls - Brittani Clark, North Carolina State University; Kia Allah, North Carolina State University

Discussant

• Jonee Wilson, University of Virginia