Bridging the Legacy of Activism Across Generations: Life Stories of African American Educators in Post-Civil Rights Birmingham

Abstract

This qualitative study takes account of the salience of activism in informing the worldviews and professional practices of a multigenerational sample of 42 African American educators in Birmingham, Alabama. Framed by life course, Black feminist thought, and hip-hop educational research perspectives, the study highlights how the participants grapple with: generational misunderstandings; re-visioning traditional notions of activism; and forging intergenerational alliances.

Black Educational Activism for Community Empowerment: International Leadership Perspectives

“…Our conceptual framework was informed by four key interrelated strands of scholarship: (a) educational advocacy and activism (Johnson, 2013;Loder-Jackson, 2011;Williams, 2009), (b) Black feminist theory (Collins, 1990;Henry, 2005), (c) Black protest politics (Perlstein, 2005;Richards & Lemelle, 2005;Williamson, 2005), and (d) culturally relevant/responsive leadership (Alston, 2005;Dillard, 1995;Franklin, 1990;Johnson, 2006;Murtadha & Watts, 2005). Work in these areas supports the idea that educational arenas are crucial sites of Black advocacy, protest, and resistance, thereby forming a foundation for educational activism as leadership.…”

“…Consequently, there are Black families and communities across the African Diaspora who have long engaged in activism and protest politics to effect educational improvement (Johnson, 2013). Indeed, studies of the change efforts of Black families, community organizers, and professional educators indicate that such activism and protest have been enacted by Black men and women across generations and locales (Johnson, 2013;Loder-Jackson, 2011;Marshall & Anderson, 2009;Williams, 2009). …”

Hope and Despair: Southern Black Women Educators Across Pre- and Post-Civil Rights Cohorts Theorize about Their Activism

“…This article examines how a multigenerational subset of Black women participants, drawn from a larger life story project of educators in Birmingham, Alabama, theorizes about the salience of activism in local civil rights history and their profession (Loder-Jackson 2011). Birmingham is arguably the prototypical social and geographical space for examining perspectives on activist educational practices in the contemporary US South (Loder-Jackson 2011; J. E. Morris 1999a; J. E. Morris and Monroe 2009).…”

“…Birmingham is arguably the prototypical social and geographical space for examining perspectives on activist educational practices in the contemporary US South (Loder-Jackson 2011; J. E. Morris 1999a; J. E. Morris and Monroe 2009). Birmingham's globally transformative civil rights history has been examined fairly extensively (Eskew 1997;Fallin 1997;Huntley and McKerley 2009;McWhorter 2001;White and McManis 2000;B.…”

“…Birmingham's globally transformative civil rights history has been examined fairly extensively (Eskew 1997;Fallin 1997;Huntley and McKerley 2009;McWhorter 2001;White and McManis 2000;B. M. Wilson 2000), yet published scholarship (excluding doctoral dissertations, which are also rare e.g., Hardy 1977) devoted to the history of education in Birmingham is sparse (Loder-Jackson 2011). Although Black educators and students during the 1950s and 1960s were instrumental in mobilizing monumental changes in Birmingham (Christensen 2009;Huntley and McKerley 2009;Mighty Times: The Children's March 2004), to date there has been no systematic investigation of these participants' perspectives on the schooling of Black children retrospectively or today (Loder-Jackson 2011).…”