Racialized Tensions in the Multimodal Literacies of Black Immigrant Youth

Abstract

Background The chapter explores the intersection of multimodal and digital literacies and racial identities of Black Caribbean immigrant youth in the United States (U.S.). Drawing on ethnographic research on the ways in which adolescent students embody their identities online, the chapter details some of the tensions that arise when these adolescents attempt to navigate a new home country that racializes their cultural and national identities and literacy practices. Context The chapter offers a meta-analysis of case studies five Black Caribbean immigrant adolescents’ multimodal and digital literacy practices in response to the racialized category “Black.” Looking across four ethnographic case studies, and through the thematic meta-analysis of data, the chapter presents data snapshots of pivotal events that refect issues of race. These events highlight the dialogic ways that these youth make use of literacy practices to understand what it means to be Black and immigrant, and to challenge these dominant, racialized representations that negate their cultural identities. Purpose The purpose of the chapter is to explore the tensions that arise when these adolescents attempt to navigate a new home country that racializes their cultural and national identities and literacy practices. In the case of Black Caribbean immigrant youth, part of this newcomer experience involves negotiating what “race” and “blackness” mean in terms of their academic, social, and personal lives. Thus, the chapter illustrates how young people use their modally and digitally mediated practices to negotiate racialized positionings across physical and virtual spaces, affinity groups, and the school and social contexts of their adopted U.S. homes. Findings As Black Caribbean immigrants, these young persons engage in emotional identity work in their talk about and/or experiences of race. The adolescents’ emotional response to racialized categories was defined by contesting feelings of pride, shame, and resilience. Two salient themes that characterized these tensions are the conflicting sense of 1) national pride versus the racial prejudice, and 2) deficit versus worthy. Their feelings of self-worth were intrinsically connected to racialized identity labels “Black” and “immigrant.” However, the modal tools and spaces they used and created serve as sites of resilience and identity (re)framing. Conclusions Adolescents developed their own personal and/or public voice that allowed them to reevaluate their self-worth, importance of social status, opportunities for advocacy, and their redefinitions of identity labels. Modal spaces and tools offered these adolescents alternative frames of reference within which they could evaluate and reposition Self. The intentional responses of these Black immigrant youth offered positive ways to see and present themselves while challenging deficit narratives of persons of color. Recommendation Explore immigrant adolescents’ use of modal and digital tools and literacies as spaces for socially reconstructing notions of race and identity. Consider modal and virtual digital spaces and tools (e.g., social networks, blogs, photographs/images, talk/stories) as a way to create opportunities for youth to air and share their experiences and ideas, as well as have their stories and positionalities become a part of the broader educational and societal narrative.