I Love Us for Real!!”: Healing Our Inner Child to Fiercely Love Black Girls in the Community Literacy Context

• In Event: The Language of Black Girls' Love Lessons: Black Girls’ Teachings on Love Through Literacy

Abstract

In this collaborative auto-ethnographic inquiry, we document our childhoods and unpack how our notions of love have been shaped by our parent-child bonds and the homes and communities we grew up in. We account for the functional and dysfunctional aspects of our childhoods that shaped our ideals around love. This inquiry explores our Black girl experiences across generations and geographies- Delicia, a Gen X born and raised in the Bronx, New York, and Josanique, a Millennial born and raised in Syracuse, New York. This inquiry guides our inner-child healing in order to restore our self-love, ensure our well-being, and strengthen our capacity to love (hooks, 2000). hooks (2000) posits that “love is an action, never simply a feeling.” As Black women, we document how our commitment to healing our inner child has broader implications for our activism working with Black girls in the urban context. With an understanding that Black girls are bombarded by broader social narratives that perpetuate a sense of lovelessness, define what love is, and determine who is worthy of love, we offer strategies, activities, and reflexive practices embedded in a feminist ethic of care and a spirit of love for Black girls.

Author

• Delicia Tiera Greene, University at Albany - SUNY