Literacy 4 Brown Girls: An Explorative Study Centered on the Identity and Literacy of African-American Girls

Jendayi Mbalia

doi:10.51830/jultr.4

Abstract

The academic needs of African-American girls too often are not linked to their intersecting identities. These interlocked identities often go unseen, thus are rarely addressed in K-12 schools. Specifically, their identities are neglected in some of their English Language Arts classrooms through the sole use of hegemonic literary practices. Literacy 4 Brown Girls was implemented at a Midwest school for twelve weeks. The purpose of this case study was to explore the ways in which a literacy collaborative, designed with the identities of African-American girls in mind, might impact the identity construction of 12 African-American girls at a local school. Through careful document analysis, findings from this study reveal that African-American girls require school programs that focus on honoring, uplifting, and supporting the construction of their intersecting identities. Not doing so posits that the identities of African-American girls are unimportant and perpetuates their academic neglect and disengagement.

Highlights

Throughout United States’ history, African-American females have been seen as less than when compared to Whites and males (Collins & Bilge, 2016; Davis, 1981; hooks, 1981)
The girls read Dyamonde Daniels, a text highlighting the life of a young, African-American girl; freely wrote about issues of importance to them; answered and discussed writing prompts related to the text; created artwork representative of their desires and self-perceptions; and participated in several discussions centered on the experiences of African-American girls
Since this study focused on the identity construction of fifth grade African-American girls, participation in the literacy collaborative was limited to those girls who met the following criteria: students must be female, African-American, English speaking, and in the fifth grade

Summary

Introduction

Throughout United States’ history, African-American females have been seen as less than when compared to Whites and males (Collins & Bilge, 2016; Davis, 1981; hooks, 1981). In addition to AfricanAmerican girls being singled out as disobedient or defiant and “pushed out” of schools (Evans-Winters, 2005; Morris, 2016), they are often classified as struggling readers and writers (Price-Dennis, 2018). This disproportionality of academic failure is in large part due to a cultural and historical disconnect; meaning, teachers fail to understand the direct association between a person’s culture, how they are viewed by society, and their academic output (Sutherland, 2005). Failure to acknowledge the unique experiences of AfricanAmerican girls stifles their identity construction while simultaneously limiting their academic achievement. K-12 schools that do not honor African-American girls and their identities serve as perpetuators of unfair practices that disproportionately harm African-American girls

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Discussion

Conclusion