Title: "Inducing Colored Sisters of Other Places to Imitate Their Example": Connecting Historic Literary Societies to a Contemporary Writing Group
Abstract: In the Miscellaneous section of the December 3, 1831, newspaper, The Liberator, a writer, Azile, wrote the proclamation above to express the progress of the Female Literary Association of Philadelphia, an African American female literary society developed in 1831. The goal of the message too was to induce or persuade other women of color to develop their own literary societies-to benefit their intellectual and literacy development. More than 180 years later, a group of young women of color gathered in a literacy collaborative toward the same ends. During four weeks in the summer, I developed a literacy collaborative for eight African American adolescent girls ages 12-17 at a large, urban, Midwestern university. This was the second writing group I led for girls with an environment reflective of African American literary societies of the mid- to late nineteenth century. We called each other Sister Author because historically African American writers referred to each other as Brother or Sister. The name Sister Author also reminded us of our purpose to write during the literacy collaborative. We came together for four weeks, three days per week, three hours per day to read texts and write across representations of our lives. The girls stated that they wanted to participate because they desired to write, but they also wanted to know if the stories of other Black girls were similar to their own.I examined the instructional conditions of the summer literacy collaborative that led to the writings from the girls. These contextual components of the writing group can be useful in thinking about and designing instruction to prepare and support English education teachers. The instructional conditions can also affect pedagogy in English education spaces, informing the process of writing as well as learning ways to improve and advance products of writing.African American Adolescent Girls' WritingsBefore exploring why the study of historical texts was critical to this project, I found it necessary to review research on the tensions that Black girls have to negotiate and mediate their identities and public perceptions through acts of writing. From studying research related to the histories, identities, and literacies of young girls, my goal was to construct a space where they would be able to openly write about their lives to draw meaning of their identities. The focus on identity was grounded in research that speaks to the need for legitimate spaces for girls to negotiate and mediate who they are and public perceptions of Black girlhood (Boston & Baxley, 2007; Brooks, Browne, & Hampton, 2008; Brooks, Sekayi, Savage, Waller, & Picot, 2010; Gibson, 2010; Henry, 1998, 2001; Muhammad, 2012; Richardson, 2002; Sutherland, 2005; Winn, 2010; Wissman, 2009).A few of the studies focusing on the literacies and identities of African American girls examined the contextual variables supporting the writing event. Wissman's (2008) work with an elective class of teenage girls of color suggests that writing is supported when there is a reading-writing relationship. The class was centered on reading the works of African American women writers along with the girls' strong desire to write about critical issues in their lives. To support the writing environment for the class, Wissman used poetry as authorial mentors or mentor texts. The participants read diverse literature from mentor writers such as Margaret Walker, Maya Angelou, June Jordan, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, and Ruth Forman. These texts supported the young writers as they wrote to self-express their identities. Introducing their appeal to write within this space, two of the teenage girls in the study wrote:We think this work is a reflection of the things that are left unsaid because of the scarcity of opportunities that are placed in schools for young, strong sistahs to find a way. . . . Our individual poems emerged from our past and present experiences, the problems we face as young females trying to make a way, and the way we are presented in society. …
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 14
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