From the Mouths of Mothers: Black Language Advocacy and Early Literacy Justice

• In Event: Culturally Sustaining Early Literacy Pedagogies and Our Futures: Dynamic Stories and Practices from PK-6 Communities

Abstract

Objectives: In this presentation, the author examines how educators can honor Black children's (already existing) linguistic dexterity amid increasingly restrictive literacy policies. Drawing from the 1979 Ann Arbor Black English case—where Black mothers collectively challenged a system that pathologized their children's language abilities—and the powerful maternal advocacy depicted in the film "Boyz n the Hood" (Singleton, 1991) and in the documentary “Hoop Dreams (James, 1994),” the presentation interrogates how contemporary literacy mandates often reproduce the same deficit frameworks these mothers fought against, particularly in assessment practices that mischaracterize AAL features—like systematic sound patterns, aspectual marking, and syntactic sophistication—as "errors" rather than manifestations of African linguistic traditions.


Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework this conceptual work is grounded in is linguistic justice (Baker-Bell, 2020) and culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris & Alim, 2017; Paris, 2021). These perspectives emphasize the importance of valuing and sustaining Black children's native language systems.


Methods and Data Sources: Methods used in this chapter include historical and contemporary archival and discourse analyses, focusing on court cases and cultural artifactual representations of maternal advocacy. Data sources include the Ann Arbor case documents, culturally resonant films, and scholarly works on AAL, alongside personal and historical accounts of Black mothers’ advocacy in educational spaces.


Results: The results of this analysis highlight that Black children's language is too often misinterpreted and undervalued in academic settings. The chapter concludes that educators must develop "linguistic reverence," an approach that goes beyond mere acceptance of AAL and encourages deep appreciation for its complexity, which is rooted in African linguistic traditions.


Significance: The scholarly significance of this work lies in its contribution to the growing discourse on culturally sustaining early literacy pedagogies, advocating for a long overdue transformation in early literacy education, one that rejects deficit-laden frameworks and centers Black children’s language as brilliance, not brokenness. It also challenges the pervasive tendency to underestimate the insight, advocacy, and expertise of their caregivers, particularly Black mothers, whose linguistic and cultural knowledge systems have long served as a foundation for their children’s wellness and success. This work underscores the need for a pedagogical framework that supports Black children’s linguistic sovereignty and calls for systemic change in how language is understood and valued in schools.

Author

• Teaira C. McMurtry, University of Alabama - Birmingham