Fugitive Spaces in Practice: Student Voice to Disrupting Anti-Blackness

• In Event: Fugitive Spaces and Geographies of Spatial Justice throughout Social Contexts of Education

Abstract

This paper examines the Sankofa Student Agency Coalition (SSAC), a unique educational initiative in partnership with a local university and Detroit public and charter schools. Grounded in theories like Culturally Responsive School Leadership (CRSL) and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), SSAC empowers Black students as policymakers, researchers, and cultural learners. It aims to address school inequities and develop culturally responsive solutions to systemic Anti-Blackness. Through narrative and data analysis, the paper highlights how SSAC creates a counter-space that challenges hierarchies, disrupts anti-Blackness, and fosters leadership based on cultural affirmation, student agency, and collective strength.

Authors

• Rema E. Reynolds Vassar, Wayne State University

• Donya Odom, Eastern Michigan University