Leveraging technology: how Black girls enact critical digital literacies for social change

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines critical digital literacy practices among 390 Black girls, ages 13–17. Through a data sharing initiative with a community organization, we conducted a qualitative analysis of 3120 narrative responses describing their views of technology. Grounded in Black feminist epistemologies, our study found that the girls reconciled their views of technology with their existing standpoints and desires for social change. Our findings highlight how Black girls leverage technologies to account for their ways of knowing and existing in the world, including using technology to author activist identities and express feelings of agency. Our findings challenge researchers and educators to expand their understanding of critical digital literacy in ways that honor Black girls’ complex experiences and existing practices.