Gettin’ to Da Bottom of Literacy: A Journey of Spatializing Black Middle-Aged Boys' Literacy in West Philly

• In Event: The Personal as Political, and Pedagogical: Currere as Foundational Research Praxis

Abstract

The third panelist is a Black Queer educator, writer, and community activist from West Philadelphia. His research examines how the intersections of race and place impact the educational and emotional outcomes of Black and Brown boys. By addressing literacy and carceral geography policies and practices, he hopes to dismantle eurocentric narratives in education in order to uplift, affirm, and protect queer and youth of color (Reid, 2022).

The author’s paper is rooted in critical autoethnography of his own experiences (both as student and teacher) as a Black boy who navigated literacies. He seeks to learn how the literacy process for Black boys can be reimagined through critical analysis of their relationship with the places and spaces they occupy outside of traditional K-12 educational institutions? Through critiquing the white spatializing of creating places and using Black spatializing and anti-Black spatializing theories as tools to liberate literacy spaces of white heteronormativity (Lipsitz, 2011). Through his research, he seeks to learn how an after school literacy program is changing the way Black boys engage and experiment with literacy and writing.

Author

• William Shelton, Graduate Center - CUNY