Affirming Black Histories and Cultures: Black Students’ Experiences of Erasure, Belonging, and Self-Actualization

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Black Teachers and Students Historicity, Wake Work and the Struggle Against Erasure

Abstract

This study examines how Black youth perceive, navigate, and reimagine representations of Blackness or its absence within school curricula. Using BlackCrit and Black Historical Consciousness, we center Black students’ narratives to analyze how curriculum, pedagogy, and school culture shape their understanding of Black histories and identities. The findings reveal that curricular erasure limits students’ ability to develop a complex and nuanced understanding of Black history. We underscore the vital role of Black educators in affirming students’ cultural and historical identities and argue that participation in Africana studies fosters resistance and diasporic awareness. Ultimately, we affirm the necessity of curricular and pedagogical practices that challenge deficit narratives and promote belonging, agency, and connections to the African diaspora.

Authors

• Tashal Brown, University of Rhode Island

• Tiana Freeman, Clark University

• Christopher Battle, University of Rhode Island