Strong Black Girls Reclaiming Schools in Their Own Image

Strong Black Girls lays bare the harm Black women and girls are expected to overcome in order to receive an education in America. It captures the routinely muffled voices and experiences of these students through storytelling, essays, letters, and poetry. The authors make clear that the strength of Black women and girls should not merely be defined as the ability to survive racism, abuse, and violence. Readers will also see resistance and resilience emerge through the central themes that shape these reflective, coming-of-age narratives. Each chapter is punctuated by discussion questions that extend the conversation around the everyday realities of navigating K–12 schools, such as sexuality, intergenerational influence, self-love, anger, leadership, aesthetic trauma (hair and body image), erasure, rejection, and unfiltered Black girlhood. Strong Black Girls is essential reading for everyone tasked with teaching, mentoring, programming, and policymaking for Black females in all public institutions. Book Features: A spotlight on the invisible barriers impacting Black girls’ educational trajectories.A survey of the intersectional notions of strength and Black femininity within the context of K–12 schooling.Narrative therapy through unpacking system stories of oppression and triumph. Insights for building skills and tools to make substantial and lasting change in schools.