Arlette Ingram Willis

Gwendolyn Thompson McMillon

Patriann Smith

"Drawing on the authors' experiences as Black parents, researchers, teachers, and teacher educators, this timely book presents a multi-pronged approach to affirming Black lives and literacies. The authors believe change is needed-not within Black children-but in the way they are perceived and educated, particularly in reading, writing, and critical thinking across grade levels. To inform literacy teachers and school leaders, they the authors provide a conceptual framework for reimagining literacy instruction based on Black philosophical and theoretical foundations, historical background, literacy research, and authentic experiences of Black students. This important book includes counter-narratives about the lives of Black learners; research conducted by Black scholars among Black students, examples of approaches to literacy with Black children that are making a difference; conversations among literacy researchers that move beyond academia; and a model for engaging all students in literacy. Affirming Black Students' Lives and Literacies advocates for adopting a standard of care that will improve and support literacy achievement among today's Black students by rejecting deficit presumptions and embracing the fullness of these students' strengths. Book Features: A critique addressing the miseducation of Black children that points to the array of available scholarship that should inform reading praxis and research. An anti-deficit framework to help teachers and school leaders provide cultural support for literacy achievement among Black students. Narrative examples of current Black literacy scholarship by Black scholars who embrace their faith-walk as an integral part of their holistic approach. Discussion questions to spur conversations among school administrators, parents/caregivers, politicians, reading researchers, teacher educators, and classroom teachers"--

Bearing Witness

Affirming Black Students' Lives and Literacies

Betty Merchant

This book extends the current discourse on the role of cultural knowledge in qualitative research, especially research conducted by women of color within their own community. Each author reports on her attempts to conceptualize herself as a researcher while simultaneously trying to honor her cultural connectedness and knowledge. As women researchers analyzing the personal and professional contexts in which their research was conducted, the authors argue that their gender, race, religion, and status have played critical roles in their research agendas. They offer a female perspective, though not a feminist critique per se, for they believe that gender does play a significant role in their research efforts. Equally important, they explore the role that race has played in their research, whether as women of color or white women conducting research among people of color. In reflecting on how their unique positionality allows them to understand relationships across many boundaries, the authors observe how, in most cases, because of their position as women and/or people of color, they have not had some of the traditional problems associated with access to multicultural sites. However, they have encountered other issues and they share how, as researchers, they met and resolved these issues for their particular settings. Each author also discusses how, in addressing these issues, she labored to meet the standards of academia, often at a personal cost. This book challenges existing paradigms by questioning the assumption of objectivity in research. It is essential reading--informative, provocative, and engaging--for researchers and students in research methods, women's studies, critical theory, and cross-cultural studies.

Multiple and Intersecting Identities in Qualitative Research

Rosalinda B. Barrera

Violet J. Harris

Georgia Earnest Garcia

This volume brings together researchers and participants from diverse groups, reflecting the different ways in which the field of multicultural literacies has been interpreted. A common theme across the chapters is attention to the ways in which elements of difference--race, ethnicity, gender, class, and language--create dynamic tensions that influence students' literacy experiences and achievement. The hope of the editors is that readers will build on the experiences and findings presented so that the field of multicultural literacies will have a greater impact of literacy research, policy, and practice.

Arlette Ingram Willis

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