Black lives, literacies, and homelessness in the smog of whiteness

Abstract

Counterportraits from a qualitative study of family literacy at a homeless shelter illustrate the impact of institutionalized racism on parent narratives about neighbourhoods, communities, and schools. Black parents privileged Whiteness through “minority majority storytelling” (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002) to make sense of their lives in the context of homelessness. The counterportraits illuminate the urgency for teachers to work toward culturally sustaining pedagogy and curriculum to dismantle the White supremacist structures and ideologies dominant in schools.