Things They Imagine: (Re)Imagination as a Tool for Black Girlhood Abolitionist Futures in Schools

• In Event: Black Girlhoods

Abstract

In the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), similarly to other school districts across the nation, Black girls have faced increased punishment compared to other girls. Particularly, in the 2018-2019 school year, Black girls were suspended 3 times more than other girls in LAUSD. Understanding the gendered and racialized carcerality Black girls face in schools, this paper uses four years of ethnographic research with 30 interviews with students, teachers, administrators, and staff from a middle school in South Central Los Angeles on how to craft a Black girl abolitionist future. I ask the research questions: How do Black girls envision and practice abolition in schools that is inclusive? Here, (re)imagination became a critical component in envisioning a world where all students’ lives were affirmed and free from carceral violence in schools. I found that interviewees employed (re)imagination on two fronts: (1) (re)imagining of schooling itself, where the school is a site for education and care, and (2) (re)imagining of school discipline, where the focus is accountability.

Author

• Pharren Miller, University of California-Los Angeles