Double Reading: Young Black Scholars Responding to Whiteness in a Community Literacy Program

Authors

Carter Power Stephanie, Indiana University - Bloomington
Kafi D. Kumasi, Wayne State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This paper examines how W.E.B. DuBois' concept of double consciousness influenced the interactions of 13 Black youth inside an after school Community Literacy Intervention Program (CLIP). Du Bois, a pre-eminent 20th century Black sociologist, used double consciousness as a lens to help explain social and psychological tensions that African Americans encounter while negotiating their identities in a societal context structured mainly upon dominant white cultural and linguistic norms and values. The authors provide a conceptual framework for understanding the interpretive processes that signify double consciousness which includes: surveying the context; assessing risks and identity consequences; articulating mainstream or race conscious reads, and bridging/or disengaging. Implications for pre-service teachers and particularly urban educators are discussed.

Disciplines

Civic and Community Engagement | Library and Information Science | Race and Ethnicity | Teacher Education and Professional Development

Comments

This book chapter is the publisher's (Teachers College Press) version, previously published as: Kumasi, K. and Carter Power, S. (2011). Double Reading: Young Black Scholars Responding to Whiteness in a Community Literacy Program. From Valerie Kinloch (ed), Urban Literacies: Critical Perspectives on Language, Learning, and Community. New York: Teachers College Press. ISBN: 0807751820.

Reprinted by permission of the Publisher.

Copyright 2011 Teachers College Press. All rights reserved.

Please see Teachers College Press' website to purchase a copy of Urban Literacies.

Recommended Citation

Kumasi, K., & Carter Power, S. (2011). Double Reading: Young Black Scholars Responding to Whiteness in a Community Literacy Program. In Valerie Kinloch (Ed.), Urban Literacies: Critical Perspectives on Language, Learning, and Community (72-90). New York: Teachers College Press.