Moments of Joy: An Examination of Black Boys' Literacies and Identity Performances in School

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: Explorations of Racial Identity

Abstract

Based on an ongoing community partnership between a teacher-researcher and a high school for students with learning differences, this paper explores the ways in which Black Boys’ literacies are enacted and expressed in a predominantly white urban independent school context. In this highly scaffolded learning environment, Black Boys where over surveilled for concerns around academic success, socialization concerns, and involvement with extracurricular activities. This study seeks to examine the dimensions of “Black Boy Joy” that emerged over the ten-month period of the ethnographic study, both across the participants in the partnership and within their broader school community.

Author

• Abdul-Qadir D. Islam, Teachers College, Columbia University