EDUCATION BY NATALIE D. LEWIS, PH.D

Tutu, D. (2019, February 4). Truth and Reconciliation Commission, South Africa. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Truth-and-Reconciliation-CommissionSouth-Africa

We Come from Love: Positioning Black Love Counternarratives in Public Education by Natalie D. Lewis, Ph.D. DSST Public Schools

Everything that you needed—the movies, the barbershop, the cleaners—all that was in [the Black community]. So you really didn’t have to go outside [the Black community] for your needs. It was just a supportive community. – Dr. Lewis, Black superintendent and former segregated school student (Horsford, 2009) The purpose of this essay is to explore the significance of Black love narratives in the field of public education. In a contemporary educational world struggling to redefine and recenter itself after the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper seeks to highlight the love narratives of the Black community as an attempt to counter the narratives of tragedy and scarcity most commonly associated with the experiences of Black children in schools. Without encountering a narrative of love, it is difficult for educators to see similarities and, more importantly, humanity in the lives of the children they serve who come from different lived experiences than their own. The above quote by Dr. Lewis illustrates that Black communities have a historic legacy of representing love and support for their members. This article centers on the critical need to further assert this narrative within the field of education. Using the tenets of critical race theory (CRT) along with social justice tenets, it works to center and prioritize the love narratives that exist in Black communities and that Black children carry into school buildings each day. Gloria Ladson-Billings and William Tate (1995) positioned CRT as a framework for education. They asserted that school inequity is based on three central propositions: 1) Race continues to be a significant factor in determining inequity in the United States. 2) U.S. society is based on property rights. 3) The intersection of race and property creates an analytic tool through which we can understand social (and, consequently, school) inequity (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995). This inaugural presentation of CRT in education laid the foundation for others to further develop ways in which CRT could be used in education. Daniel Solórzano (2009) identified five

tenets of CRT that could be used in the world of education: (1) the intercentricity of race and racism, (2) the challenge to dominant ideology and narratives through counternarratives, (3) the commitment to social justice, (4) the centrality of experiential knowledge, and (5) the utilization of interdisciplinary approaches. This article will focus on elucidating the counternarratives of love that exist within the Black community as a means of countering the more dominant narratives of lack and despair. The use of counternarratives acts as an illustration of the cultural community wealth that poor children, BIPOC, and specifically Black children bring with them every day into school environments (Yosso, 2005). Education continues to be plagued by practices that hinder the success and surface huge disparities and inequities for Black children (Ward Randolph, 2012; Newcomb & Niemeyer, 2015; Wilson, 2016). Despite this reality, education has had the historic legacy of representing freedom and access to opportunities to Black communities in the United States since the beginning of Black educational systems in the United States (Anderson, 1988; Walker, 2018; Murtadha & Watts, 2005). There is pivotal literature centered on the experiences of Black principals that highlights stories of love, care, and a deep sense of collective responsibility that permeates Black spaces (Tillman, 2004; Horsford, 2009; Walker, 2018). Various examples in the literature further assert that historically, Black educators (specifically Black principals) were deeply committed to their school communities and their leadership was demonstrated as acts of love both within and outside of the confines of the school building (Bess, 2009; Dantley, 2010; Witherspoon & Arnold, 2010; Newcomb & Niemeyer, 2015). Loder’s (2005) description of care—which she referred to as “othermothering”—furthered the example of commitment to their school communities; othermothering is a way in which Black principals love and care for the students as if they were their own children (p. 314). However, the field of education is currently plagued by deficit narratives and hyper-discussion of educational gaps that exist between Black children and their primarily white peers, and not the various examples of love that exist within Black educator practice and the Black community (Malkus, Christensen & Schurz, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic continues to shift the world, and the United States more specifically, in ways that most did not imagine (Whitt-Glover, 2019; Malkus et al., 2020; Shaw et al., 2020). It has revealed for some and reiterated for most the centuries of inequities that have continued to exist in the United States for Black people (Shaw et al., 2020; Dorn et al., 2021). These inequities range from job disparities to homelessness, inadequate health outcomes, and continued educational gap disproportionalities (Shaw et al., 2020; Gibson-Davis & Hill, 2021)— all while the onslaught of messaging that comes from media and social media continues to paint the narrative of lack and loss (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2020). This narrative is particularly significant within the sphere of education, where educators are trying to make sense of their new context after the introduction of the pandemic (Shaw et al., 2020; Dorn et al., 2021). Eighteen-plus months of virtual and hybrid learning has significantly reshaped the infrastructure of public education (Shaw et al., 2020; Dorn et al., 2021). In fact, the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic is often referred to as the period of learning loss and the deepening of educational gaps (Barnum, 2021; Engzell et al., 2021). The negative narrative is important because it contributes to an ongoing battle within public education to try to respond and recenter itself as it comes to terms with the possibility of adopting a new identity. This narrative is significantly more impactful for Black children who have been battling deficit mindsets and structures aimed at them since the beginning of their journeys in public education (Madsen & Mabokela, 2014; Knaus, 2014). Black children have consistently battled against

negative beliefs about their possibilities, and the realities of this have resulted in a lack of opportunities and resources (Newcomb & Niemeyer, 2015; Wilson, 2016). In an educational world in which achievement and opportunity gaps are frequently explained and highlighted, often missing are positive images and discussions of Black students (Valencia, 1997; Hammond, 2014; Muhammad, 2020). The stories that educators share with one another are important. Informal “teacher talk” about students often takes on a narrative form (Pollack, 2012). Stories have the power to reveal deeply held beliefs and attitudes in ways that other forms of communication cannot (van Dijk, 1993). The deficit view of Black children and their families in public education is prominent. Deficit thinking takes the position that BIPOC students and families are at fault for poor academic performance because (a) students enter school without the normative cultural knowledge and skills, and (b) parents neither value nor support their children’s education (Yosso, 2005). Deepening the analysis of the ways in which educators talk about their students and their families will play a significant role in understanding the beliefs held about students and their families. The Black and Latino student population represents 46% of the public school population (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2016). Having an educator population that does not share a similar cultural experience or background lays the foundation for the vital need for intentional work toward ensuring the use of responsive and reflective practices by educators. Challenging educators’ stereotypical constructions of Black students can shape educators’ development of the capacity to identify and empathize with their students (Picower, 2009; Khalifa et al., 2016). Therefore, it is extremely important to contextualize the field of education that is desperately seeking to draw committed young people to join the ranks of the profession while also reeling from its current transformation due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Dorn et al., 2021). Students across the country deserve committed and knowledgeable educators who have an informed understanding of the communities and students they desire to serve. Without a counternarrative that lends well-rounded understanding, educators run the risk of walking into school buildings with flawed perceptions—and more dangerously, a belief in an “other” that comes with an inability to see the humanity of the students sitting in the seats before them (Du Bois, 1903/1994; Delpit, 2012; Hammond, 2014). Having more interactions and familiarity with the love narratives of the Black community helps to establish and more concretely reiterate a view of its members’ humanity, laying the groundwork for connection—a vital element of teaching. To further understand education’s capacity for empowerment of the Black community, it is important to examine the literature that illustrates the conditions of schools and the meaning of leadership for Black principals during the time of segregation. Horsford’s (2009) research described schools for Blacks during segregation as bastions of learning that had a powerful sense of community. Using a case study of Black superintendents practicing during the time of segregation, Horsford (2009) positioned a counternarrative to the narrative of Black schools being under-resourced and underperforming. The experiences described by the participants portrayed segregated schools as places where students felt a connection between all of the most important places to them—their schools, homes and families, and community. Horsford (2009) used rich descriptions to paint a picture of connectedness within a culture. Each of the participants in the study described ways in which their Black principals operated and set a tone of high expectations. Horsford’s (2009) study used counter-storytelling to affirm the idea that all things Black—in this case, schools, and particularly Black principals—do not equate to inadequacy or despair. In fact, the stories of love,

care, and collective responsibility shown in segregated Black school environments point to the exact opposite (Tillman, 2004; Horsford, 2009; Walker, 2018). Black educators, and more specifically, Black principals, have played a variety of roles both within and outside of the school (Anderson, 1988; Pollard, 1997; Walker, 2018; Walker & Byas, 2003; Ward Randolph, 2012). The experiences of Black principals often meant that they served in capacities beyond that of just principal; in fact, Black principals often served as community leaders, fathers and mothers, guidance counselors, activists, mentors, and a variety of other roles to members of their community (Anderson, 1988; Pollard, 1997; Walker, 2018; Walker & Byas, 2003; Tillman, 2004; Ward Randolph, 2012). This quotation from a parent in the research of Lewis and Adkins-Sharif (2020) highlights the love and care that Black principals pour into their school communities: Of the Black principals that I’ve encountered in my children’s schooling, I’ve found that they are easier for me to relate to. They show that they want my child to succeed. I don’t know how to describe it, but it feels different—it’s just a knowing that I have. They understand me and my family different than White principals. Reflection and response to the effects of created pathologies must guide educator growth to ensure success for all students. Nieto (2006) calls for educators to consider four components of social justice: 1) challeng[ing], confront[ing], and disrupt[ing] misconceptions, untruths, and stereotypes that lead to structural inequality and discrimination; 2) providing all students with the resources necessary to learn to their full potential; 3) drawing on the talents and strengths that students bring to their education; and 4) creating a learning environment that promotes critical thinking and supports agency for

enacting social change. (p. 2) These four components provide a structure for educators to consider as they examine their bias and reflect on the outcomes that they desire for the students they serve. The use of these tenets is important in framing the critical contexts that must be explored to share more widely about the love narratives of the Black community, particularly as the world and country are navigating how to deal with all of the “loss.” The Black community deserves stories of love that underscore and act as a foundation for their triumphs beyond mere survival. Their love has carried them from enslavement through Jim Crow, and now through COVID-19. It will be critical to uphold these stories as the foundation for continuing to fight and advocate for options that prioritize the greatness and capacity of Black students and the greater Black community as students navigate public education each day.

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