"We Are Not Broken": Using Sista Circles as Resistance, Liberation, and Healing

• In Event: Black Women Teachers' Reflections and Resistance

Abstract

In understanding the effects of White supremacist ideologies on the experiences of Black girls and women in schools, one must begin with an examination of the practices that govern the spaces in which they learn. Here we discuss the effects of these ideologies on the experiences of Black girls and Black women resulting in their need for safe spaces to experience full citizenship. In this paper, we use Black feminist thought and Womanism to re-examine the racialized experiences of Black girls and Black women at the middle and secondary level to discuss how sista circles can serve as a safe space for them to dissolve the material effects of White supremacist ideologies as they move towards healing and full citizenship.

Author

• Adrian D. Dunmeyer, Cobb County School District