Something Inside So Strong: Freedom School, Black Joy, and the Baobab Tree

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Teaching Beyond the Standard: Humanizing Educational Practice for Youth of Color (Table 18)

Abstract

Drawing upon culturally relevant and sustaining teaching practices, and tenets of critical pedagogy, our research explores how aspects of the Schomburg Freedom School curriculum and environment cultivated Black Joy for its scholars. We use the Baobab Tree of the Savanna region of Africa to symbolize what we saw happening at the Schomburg Freedom School. We found that like the Baobab tree, the Schomburg Freedom School cultivates Black Joy that can nourish and sustain our scholars throughout the year. Through ethnographic classroom observations and semi-structured, focus group interviews with scholars, scholars' parents, and site staff, we captured examples of how Black Joy was cultivated across our Freedom School community through humanizing, restorative, cultural, educational, and social practices.

Authors

• Michael A. Scofield, University of Florida

• Chonika Coleman-King, University of Florida

• Deandra West, University of Florida

• Natalya Green, University of Florida

• Taryrn T.C. Brown, University of Florida