T.E.N. Global Articles

This case study demonstrates how a community-based literacy program, HELP, took up Black literate traditions, endarkened transnational feminism, and anticolonial practices to construct emancipatory literacy experiences for Haitian and Haitian American middle schoolers in Miami, Florida. Overall, the institutional practices of HELP worked to destigmatize the discourses of Haiti, center Black Haitian women’s stories, and develop spiritual consciousness. Furthermore, this article discusses the “COVID-19 scramble” and its ability to detract from building socially just futures for Black transnational students. Lastly, the article ends with questions for consideration when confronting the cyclical violence of white supremacy in literacy programs.

Introduction: Unfurling Black Girl Superpowers

Black girls are as diverse as the stars in the sky. They belong to global communities, speak a variety of languages, and propel innovation. Despite these qualities, their learning environments can be alienating and even hostile. In the editorial, “Why Black Girls’ Literacies Matter: New Literacies for a New Era” (2016), Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz explains the urgency of Black Girls’ Literacy is a result of the climate in which Black girls are coming of age: higher rates of suspension, and the increased likeliness to attend schools that lack a full range of college preparatory courses and underqualified teachers.

Adolescence is a time when individuals begin to integrate various aspects of the self, such as one’s philosophy of life, religion, spirituality, sexual orientation and career options to develop one’s identity.