Harlem on Our Minds

In her new book, Valerie Kinloch investigates how the lives and literacies of youth in New York City’s historic Harlem are affected by public attempts to gentrify the community. Kinloch draws connections between race, place, and students’ literate identities through interviews with youth, teachers, longtime Black residents, and their new White neighbors. Harlem on Our Minds is a participatory action narrative that brings emerging theories of social ecology to life for the high school English classroom. Vividly drawn lessons show how teachers can engage urban youth in school-based literacy by linking canonical text, particularly of the Harlem Renaissance, to current events. Centered on the literacy stories of two African American youth and their peers, this book:

• Showcases the multimodal literacy practices of urban youth through photographs, writing samples, student-designed research projects, and more.
• Weaves in multiple voices and perspectives through response pieces by project participants, local teachers, a graduate student, and a community activist.
• Features summaries of teaching strategies.

Valerie Kinloch is an associate professor in the School of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University. She received the 2025 AERA Scholars of Color Distinguished Career Contribution Award.

“In one creative and cooperative effort, Valerie Kinloch has addressed the teaching and learning of literacy in a hard-to-reach population.”
—From the Afterword by Edmund W. Gordon, Professor Emeritus, Yale University

“One of the many attributes of this book is the wide range of voices, perspectives, and literacy practices that are brought together to illuminate conditions of living and learning at the intersection of race and place.”
—From the Foreword by Jabari Mahiri, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education

2018 NCTE Advancement of People of Color Leadership Award
2012 AERA Outstanding Book Award
2010 AERA Committee on Scholars of Color in Education Early Career Contribution Award