Let our rejoicing rise without bound: a focus on black language and mathematics learning

Abstract

My goal with this conceptual paper is to describe how Black Language can be valued, utilized, and incorporated into mathematics pedagogy. This framing requires a critical orientation towards language because Black Language is often a site of marginalization. I begin this conversation by defining Black Language and identifying its roots. I then highlight the connection between language and identity and suggest that since mathematics education scholars have noted the important role of identity in mathematics learning, then Black Language is an important part of the discussion for many Black children. Black linguistic practices are conceptualized here as a part of a Black ontology and situated in a more general notion of Blackness. Finally, I provide details about how these linguistic practices manifest in the mathematics classroom in the form of mathematics discourse and provide some strategies for moving the field forward towards emancipation for Black mathematics learners.