Carolyn L. Streets
In order to better understand the positions and messages of activism and social movements of today, it is important to examine the critical scholarship critically- often that of activism, that sparked social movements (both present and past) and steered the “work” toward the long path toward social justice within the curriculum. However, despite the expansive research canon on the importance of social justice as an educational framework, such approaches are not strongly visible within the school curriculum. As part of the conversation on how poetry is used pedagogically, this unit strives to help students critically digest various forms of scholarship including young adult literature, articles, and critiques. For example, it may be beneficial for teachers to explore #Ownvoices, a Twitter hashtag coined by YA author Corinne Duyvis. The author explains the hashtag is about books with characters from “underrepresented/marginalized groups in which the author shares the same identity, and the writing is inspired by the author's own experiences and written from their own perspective.”2
This lesson considers revolutionary anthologies created by African American women poets and how such writers have led, and continue to lead and document, the long movement for social justice through their collective contributions to the literary canon. It builds upon social justice framework(s) in response to current events by using the historical record and archives as a case study. This will enable an understanding of the long arc of history through the context of African American women-led civil rights legacies within social justice contexts. Education for social justice, as described by Ayers, et. al., is “Not a new idea, nor is it just another reform proposal, an add-on to what already is. Rather, education for social justice is the root of teaching and schooling in a democratic society, the rock upon which we build democracy.”3 To do this, teachers are called to take an intersectional view of education in which all students are affirmed. Dr. Kevin Kumashiro describes this in the Four Approaches to Social Justice Education, as “An educational framework using four approaches that critically examines power, privilege, and oppression to empower teachers and students to understand and act on historical, social, political, and racial inequalities. These four approaches are 1. Education for the other where education is inclusive, 2. Education about the other that includes multiple narratives, 3. Education critical of othering and privilege that uncover hidden narratives, and 4. Transformational education that builds agents of change.”4 With this in mind, this unit considers all four approaches as the selected works of poetry can be viewed as an act of resistance, resilience, and a critique of the societal conditions that influence society. It is the intention for student learning outcomes to explore, critique, and understand how blackout poetry can forefront the poetic legacies of trailblazing African American women activists, scholars, and poets. This underscores what Audre Lorde (1954-1992), Writer, Feminist, Womanist, Librarian, and Civil Rights Activist notes, “When I dare to be powerful — to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”5 For example, what is the meaning of Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman,” (1978), or what is the significance of poet June Jordan’s work? Why is Phillis Wheatley’s work “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral,” (1773) of historical, epistemological significance? What are the enduring poetic legacies of prolific scholars like Gwendolyn Brooks and Nikki Giovani? To synthesize learning, this unit seeks to engage students in a form of literary analysis in which students will read the poetic works of a select cohort of African American women poets, scholars, and activists to create blackout poetry that is thematically representative of the work.
My unit envisions social justice frameworks as a pedagogical model in order to “create educational environments that empower historically marginalized people, challenge inequitable social arrangements and institutions, and offer strategies and visions for creating a more just world.”6 This unit is developed resulting from the 2023 Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute seminar entitled “Poetry As Sound and Object,” which views poems as an experience of sound and as material objects often expressed through the visual arts. Hearing the “sound” of poetry makes it more like a song, including video poems. In viewing poems as “objects,” observers see poems printed in ways that enhance the experience of them. Participation in this seminar provided an opportunity to explore the power of blackout poetry and design this unit using it as a form of literary analysis in which students will explore and create such forms of poems that manipulate the poetic object. Additionally, this unit draws upon session objectives to consider how poetry can be mobilized as a teaching tool across many subjects and grade levels, which is apropos to social justice frameworks and English Language Arts standards calling for students to take interpretive stances of a work of literature by examining the author's choices of words, perspectives, structures, and ideas. Because of this seminar, I am thinking about how the “sound” and “object” of blackout poetic forms may interact to create an impactful learning experience for students by considering the actual student creation of poetry as the “object” and the performance of the poetry as the “sound.”
