“Be Real Black For Me”: Black Livingness in Children’s Literature - From Past to Present to Hopeful Futures

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

From past, to present, to future, “Be Real Black for me” honors and upholds Black livingness in children’s literature (Johnson & Turner, 2023). Although the realities of Blackness, both currently and historically, are inclusive of racism, violence, and harm, this is not the complete picture of our lives, nor should it be what is presented to children through the medium of children’s literature. In this session, we critically explore Black Children’s text that reflects the fullness and hybridity of children across African Diasporic borders finding a more complete story (Brooks & Cueto, 2018). Access and exposure to brilliant and nuanced contemporary and classic children’s literature is the remedy for “unforgetting histories and imagining just futures.”

Sub Unit

• SIG-Literature

Chairs

• Latoya M. Teague, University of Tulsa

• Reka C. Barton, University of Maryland

Papers

• Hairtales: A Multimodal Analysis of Self & Self-Expression of Black Girls’ Hair in Children’s Literature - Reka C. Barton, University of Maryland

• Examining Narratives of Black Livingness Through a Critical Content Analysis of Contemporary African American Picturebooks - Wintre Foxworth Johnson, University of Virginia; Jennifer Danridge Turner, University of Maryland

• A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre - Vivica Joines, University of Maryland

• Flights, Talking Images, and Subverted Gazes: Returning to the Heartbeat of Black Children’s Literature - Latoya M. Teague, University of Tulsa

Session Organizer

• Latoya M. Teague, University of Tulsa

Discussants

• Wanda M. Brooks, Temple University

• Desiree W. Cueto, University of Arizona