Investing in the Educational Success of Black Women and Girls ed. by Lori D. Patton, Venus E. Evans-Winters, and Charlotte E. Jacobs

Abstract

Reviewed by: Investing in the Educational Success of Black Women and Girls ed. by Lori D. Patton, Venus E. Evans-Winters, and Charlotte E. Jacobs Emerald Templeton Investing in the Educational Success of Black Women and Girls Lori D. Patton, Venus E. Evans-Winters, and Charlotte E. Jacobs (Editors) Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2022, 312 pages, $37.50 (softcover) In her seminal work, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, Hill Collins (2000) described the "hidden space of Black women's consciousness" (p. 98) that includes self-definition; self-determination; and resistance to racism, sexism, classism, and white supremacy. Lori D. Patton, Venus E. Evans-Winters, and Charlotte E. Jacobs's work is an embodiment of this consciousness. Much like how Hill Collins designed Black Feminist Thought, the editors of this volume created an accessible text grounded in Black women and girls' experiences, knowledges, and existence. As a Black woman scholar whose research underscores the experiences of Black women in higher education while uncovering the logics of valuing diversity, I recognize the authority of this work and find that it aligns with and informs my scholarly interests. As a former Black girl who has trudged through misogynoir throughout my educational experiences, I feel incredibly affirmed, seen, and celebrated through this work. Written from the vantage point of women and girls across the spectrum of Black womanhood and girlhood, the authors of this edited volume artfully describe how we navigate the American system of education while maintaining our meanings and intonating our expressions (Hill Collins, 2000). This text is organized into four sections: (a) Mattering for Black Women and Girls in Schooling Contexts, (b) Naming and Challenging the Violence and Criminalization of Black Women and Girls, (c) Navigating Politics and the Politicization of Black Women and Girls in Higher Education, and (d) Still We Rise: Black Women and Girls Lifting and Loving Black Women and Girls. The chapters in these sections provide the reader with context, discussion questions, further reading, and additional resources. These sections weave together narratives that illustrate the depth, breadth, and rigor of scholarship about Black women and girls. Each section sheds light on multiple experiences and voices, which I will describe below. In the first section, Mattering for Black Women and Girls in Schooling Contexts, Patton et al. set the tone for this volume and lay a foundation for understanding the ways of knowing (epistemologies), being (ontologies), and thinking (ideologies) that influence Black women and girls' efficacy in school. Chapter 1, "Mid-Twerk and Mid-Laugh," uncovers how Black girls' ability to express themselves through laughter and dancing in culturally situated ways is stifled and criminalized. Further, the author posits that this level of expressiveness provides an opportunity for learning that schools can engage for transformation. In Chapter 2, readers are presented with ways to enact the Black girls' literacy framework, which allows schools to expand learning and literacy beyond simply reading and writing to a nuanced practice that situates learning in sociopolitical, historical, and cultural contexts. Similarly, Chapters 3 and 4 discuss the ways myths and stereotypes depict Black girls as older than they are, disrespectful, and underachieving. Such myths must be dispelled so that Black girls can find belonging and safety in spaces that were not intended for them. Together, these chapters encompass why [End Page 250] Black girls matter and how schools can begin to embrace that fact. The second section, Naming and Challenging the Violence and Criminalization of Black Women and Girls, begins by situating the education of Black women and girls within a political context that surveils, polices, and arrests them. Chapters 5 and 6 detail the ways in which schools are failing Black girls—pushing them out and deeming them "nobodies"—by highlighting compelling cases and data related to their involvement with school discipline and the legal system. Further, the ways in which a lack of care and value for Black women and girls persist through higher education are explicated in Chapters 7 and 8. The authors herein urge educators and administrators to challenge their biases about gender and race and interrogate how the intersection of those identities reveals the ways they characterize and value Black women and girls...