Holistic Remedy: Interrogating Black Girl Pasts to Forge New Futures

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 5:25 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Repairing Harm in Literacy Classrooms (Table 4)

Abstract

This roundtable discussion explores the material realities of Black women working with Black girls to share multigenerational literacies and narratives. Recognizing the central yet often decentered role of these women in Black girlhood studies (Smith-Purviance, et al., 2022) and the literacy field (Womack, 2021), we interrogate how Black girl pasts inform futures. We draw from community-centered work involving critical art reflection, book dialogues, and immersive arts, highlighting the importance of healing the inner [blackgirl] child (botts-ward, 2020). This discussion will address how Black girl literacies might consider the past and present to envision a radical and healed future for Black girlhood.

Author

• Courtney Mauldin-Jones, Syracuse University