To BE with Black Communities: Possibilities and Visions of Justice

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Engaging families and communities is not often regarded as a mechanism to dismantle racial injustice, yet there is power in communal knowledge and action. The papers presented in this session shed light on the utility of centering Black knowledge and perspectives in the context of family and community relationships with schools and districts. Understanding how Black communities and families engage in educational spaces is critical to diminish the anti-Black racism rampant in US schooling. The papers presented in this session address the racialized practices that shape Black family and community relationships. Each panelist explores possibilities for scholars and practitioners to focus on the leadership and lessons that emerge when Black families and communities are central to visions of racial justice.

Sub Unit

• Division A - Administration / Division A - Section 4: School Contexts and Communities

Chair

• Virginia Downing, University of Kentucky

Papers

• What We Mean by Community: Conceptualizing Black Community-School Relationships Through Community Member Engagement - Virginia Downing, University of Kentucky

• The Formation of an Oppositional Consciousness: Black Parents and Community Partnerships for Educational Change - Rhoda Freelon, The Spencer Foundation

• “Tell Me Who I Have to Be to Get Some Reciprocity”: Research With Black Families for Black Families - Tunette Powell, Arizona State University

• Black Faces, White Spaces: Creating Black Space in Hypersegregated Public Schools - Shannon Paige Clark, University of Maryland - Eastern Shore

Discussant

• kihana miraya ross, Northwestern University