Race(ing) stories: digital storytelling as a tool for critical race scholarship

Abstract

This article investigates the use of digital storytelling as a medium for exploring the significance of race in the educational experiences of youth. A critical race theory (CRT) framework is utilized because CRT places race at the center of social analysis and values the everyday experiences of people of color. The author focuses on two US high school students who created digital stories and shows how the students grappled with the ways race shaped identities and institutional structures in their educational contexts. The author also highlights the ways in which the students represented themselves through stories that countered normalized discourses about race. The author concludes that the digital storytelling medium, combined with a CRT framework, can be a valuable tool for initiating conversations about the raced experiences of youth and can provide valuable knowledge for those working towards greater racial justice within educational contexts.