Let the Circle Be Unbroken: Black Women's Literature Circle as Liberatory Space

• In Event: Let the Circle Be Unbroken: A Black Women's Literature Circle as Liberatory Space

Abstract

Objectives and Overview
The proposed symposium responds to the AERA call for inquiry on educational spaces free from racial injustice. We explore how a virtual literature circle, referred to as The Circle, served as an affirming cultural space for Black women scholar-activists. The exploration of Black women-authored texts created space for deep soul work allowing us to find value in expressing our identities, naming oppressive structures of power, and resisting those forces. Grounded in intersectional narrative inquiry and Black feminist/womanist theories, we examine how our participation contributed to our capacity to strive, resist, and heal in the context of a global health crisis and ongoing racial pandemics.

Scholarly Significance
Historically, African-American literature circles provided spaces for learning and discussion in the context of racial dehumanization and limited educational opportunities. Black women's literary societies carved space for mothers, sisters, and daughters of varied ages to 'gather around texts they identified as meaningful and significant to encourage and improve reading, writing, and speaking skills, share knowledge, promote ideas, and cultivate a scholarly and literate way of life." The Circle drew inspiration from this tradition and virtually connected the panelists for monthly discussions of Black women's literature. The Circle, as a space for meaningful dialogue, simultaneously embodied a liberatory space and empowered the panelists to imagine new educational spaces free from gendered racism for themselves and their students.

Drawing from our individual narratives, the proposed session explores how the panelists’ collective experience reading Black women’s literature informed and influenced our sense-making. Specifically, participants examine connections between literary themes and our raced and gendered experiences as mothers, sisters, daughters, educators, and change agents. Through narrative inquiry, we address well-documented themes in the professional and personal lives of Black women scholar activists including anti-Blackness and patriarchy.

Session Structure
Having organized the seats in a circle (to the degree possible), the session will begin with opening remarks from the session chair, who designed and facilitated The Circle. The discussant will introduce each panelist and their papers, engaging the audience with literature excerpts and multimedia data from the experience. Panelists will then elaborate on connections between Black women’s literature, learning from The Circle, and new praxis as result of their participation. The discussant will facilitate discourse and pose questions, including those that emerge from the audience. The symposium will end with closing remarks by the chair relative to future directions for research on Black women educators and racial justice.

Authors

• Amber Pabon, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

• Theresa Y. Robinson, Elmhurst University

• Dyanis Conrad, Randolph-Macon College

• Janice Baines, University of South Carolina