"I Also Like to Write": Enacting Literacies of Social Transformation Among Black Male Secondary Students

• In Event: 44.065 - Literacies of Social Transformation: Enacting Freirean Perspectives Across Contexts

Abstract

Objective
For decades, dismal statistics, have offered “incomplete stories” (Adichie, 2009) that perpetuate negative stereotypes about Black males and position them as barely literate. Black males are keenly aware of ‘‘their perceived inability to succeed’’ (Henfield, 2012, p. 216). In my experience as a cultural worker (Freire, 1998) and literacy researcher, engaging critical theories and the act of writing supports young Black men in (re)positioning themselves in educational spaces. In this way, writing for Black males becomes more than a means of communication, it is a mode of ‘‘social action’’ (Tatum & Gue, 2012). This study examined narrative writing of Black males and their verbal reflections about their writing to address the following questions: What are the features of critical consciousness development among secondary Black male students? How does critical consciousness manifest into social action?

Theoretical Framework
Three interconnected theories guided my conceptualization in this study. “Problem-posing education” (Freire, 1970), invites students to be “critical co-investigators.” Furthermore, in problem-posing education, “people develop power to perceive critically... [and] establish an authentic form of thought and action” (p. 83). Lakoff and Johnson (2011), argue metaphors not only structure our thoughts, but they also structure our actions; they help to organize for us (conceptually) what we believe to be possible. Pahl & Rowsell (2010), suggest that ‘‘artifacts’’ assist students in telling their stories. If it is true that metaphors organize our thinking, speaking, and actions, then it is possible for us to reimagine and create new ways of effectively educating Black males.

Methods
I developed a curricular innovation within the context of a summer enrichment writing course where Black male high school students read Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Lakoff & Johnson’s Metaphors We Live By, among other texts. After reading the texts, writing critical reflections about the texts, and engaging in critical dialogues about the texts, the students developed extended metaphors (e.g. “banking concept”) of their own. These extended metaphors also included “three dimensional artifacts” (Pahl & Rowsell, 2010), which were presented to the class. Each student was interviewed about their projects. The writing, artifacts, and interviews presented triangulated opportunities to understand and analyze the development of critical consciousness.

Results
Enacting literacies of social transformation provided multiple entry points for the Black males to write for themselves (and others) in ways that valued the full range of their humanity, human rights, and the development of his critical consciousness. Two highlighted features were creativity and the demonstration of intellectual depth. Engaging in the content and process of project offered a sustainable pedagogical tool for producing substantial writing among young Black men.

Scholarly Significance
This problem-posing pedagogical stance, began with the assumed brilliance of Black male students and considered the writing needs of Black male students are not monolithic. By providing all Black male students access to scholarly readings and projects with theoretically rich content, educators can be more intentional about creating spaces and opportunities to better understand these writing needs in ways that promote literacies of social transformation for Black males.

Author

• Sakeena Everett, University of Illinois at Chicago