Race, Justice, and Activism in Literacy Instruction

This volume brings together respected scholars to examine the intersections of race, justice, and activism in direct relation to the teaching and learning of critical literacy. The authors focus on literacy praxis that reflect how students—with the loving, critical support of teachers and teacher educators—engage in resistance work and collaborate for social change. Each chapter theorizes how students and adults initiate and/or participate in important justice work, how their engagements are situated within a critical literacy lens, and what their engagements look like in schools and communities. The authors also explore the importance of this work in the context of current sociopolitical developments, including police shootings, deportations, and persistent educational inequities.

Book Features:

• The most recent work of both emerging and well-known literacy and social justice scholars.
• Examples of student activism across multiple geographic contexts in the United States.
• Accessible questions to help guide discussions related to the overall topics, theories, and methods.
• Artifacts, such as images and artwork, from students and educators to allow readers multiple ways of entering the text.

Valerie Kinloch is the Renée and Richard Goldman Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. Her books include Crossing Boundaries—Teaching and Learning with Urban Youth; Urban Literacies: Critical Perspectives on Language, Learning, and Community; and Harlem on Our Minds: Place, Race, and the Literacies of Urban Youth. She received the 2025 AERA Scholars of Color Distinguished Career Contribution Award. Tanja Burkhard is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. Carlotta Penn is director of community partnerships at The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology.

“Educators reading ( Race, Justice, and Activism in Literacy Instruction) will learn of perspectives that can be incorporated into literacy education to engage youth in activism toward justice. Scholars’, educators’, and students’ voices confront historical inequities in school-based literacy instruction that neglect to explore race, power, and identity.”

—Teachers College Record

”Through Race, Justice, and Activism in Literacy Instruction, readers will gain inspiration from experienced professionals in a variety of positions within the educational field. Some of the strengths of this work include that it draws from experience and research done by quality teachers and researchers in Teacher Education. The topics that each researcher studies weave together to make an overall argument about the necessity of teacher activism.”

—Journal of Language and Literacy Education

"This volume powerfully and convincingly centers arguments on the significance of antiracist teacher preparation, culturally responsive pedagogy, the power of engaging youth in their own learning, and the necessity of community activism."
—From the Foreword by Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Teachers College, Columbia University

"Race, Justice, and Activism in Literacy Instruction provides needed sustenance for literacy educators committed to joining communities toward racial justice."
—Django Paris, James A. & Cherry A. Banks Professor of Multicultural Education, University of Washington

Contents

Foreword Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz  ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Race, Justice, and Activism in Literacy Instruction: An Introduction 1
Valerie Kinloch, Tanja Burkhard, and Carlotta Penn

Part I Overview 11
Carlotta Penn

1. Generations of Fugitive Literacy Teacher Education and Activism 13
Leigh Patel

2. “What Happens Here Can Change the World”: Preparing Literacy Teachers in the Digital Age 23
Detra Price-Dennis

3. Students Developing Critical Language and Literacy Perspectives 35
Ijeoma E. Ononuju, BernNadette T. Best-Green, and Danny C. Martinez

4. Rethinking Curriculum and Pedagogy in Schools: Critical Literacies and Epistemologies in Theory and Practice 53
Limarys Caraballo and Lindsey Lichtenberger

5. Arlene’s Actionist Work: A Case Study of Writing and Self-Activism 71
Maneka D. Brooks and Arlene M. Alvarado

6. Pardon This Disruption: Cultivating Revolutionary Civics Through World Humanities 91
Tamara Butler, Jenell Igeleke Penn, and Johnny Merry

Poetic Musings: Remembering Our Black Youth/Our Black Lives 107
Carlotta Penn, Valerie Kinloch, and Tanja Burkhard

Part II Overview 109
Tanja Burkhard

7. One Love, One Heart 111
Donja Thomas

8. The Politics of Ratchetness: Exploring Race, Literacies, and Social Justice with Black Youth 131
Jamila Lyiscott

9. A Black Lives Matter and Critical Race Theory–Informed Critique of Code-Switching Pedagogy 147
Sina Saeedi and Elaine Richardson

10. Multiliteracies Toward Justice in Literacy Teaching and Research 163
Vaughn W. M. Watson, Matthew R. Deroo, and Erik Skogsberg

11. Braiding Stories Toward a Common Cause: Coalitional Inquiry as Activism 181
María Paula Ghiso, Gerald Campano, Grace Player, Brenda Krishanwongso, and Frianna Gultom

Poetic Musings: Where Do We Go from Here? 201
Tanja Burkhard, Carlotta Penn, and Valerie Kinloch

Not a Conclusion: Keeping Focused on Race, Justice, and Activism in Literacy Instruction 203
Valerie Kinloch

About the Editors and the Contributors 205

Index 207