Toward a Literacy of Promise

Linda A. Spears-Bunton is Associate Professor of English Education and an affiliated faculty member in African New World Studies at Florida International University, Miami, Florida.Rebecca Powell currently serves as Dean of Education at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky, where she has taught since 1993. She holds the Marjorie Bauer Stafford Endowed Professorship and was awarded the Cawthorne Excellence in Teaching Award in 2003.

• Foreword Lisa Delpit Preface1 Introduction Rebecca PowellPART I: PROBLEMS AND PROMISES2 Along the Road to Social Justice: A Literacy of Promise Linda A. Spears-Bunton and Rebecca Powell3 "Unbanking" Education: Exploring Constructs of Knowledge, Teaching, Learning Letitia Hochstrasser Fickel4 Resistance, Reading, Writing, and Redemption: Defining Moments in Literacy and the Law Sherman G. Helenese, Linda A. Spears-Bunton and Kimberly L. BuntonPART II: REALIZING A LITERACY OF PROMISE THROUGH LITERARY TEXTS5 "Educational, Controversial, Provocative, and Personal": Three African American Adolescent Males Reflect on Critically Framing of A Lesson Before Dying Julia Johnson Connor and Arlette Ingram Willis6 The Obscured White Voice in the Literacy Debate: Race, Space and Gender Linda A. Spears-BuntonPART III: REALIZING A LITERACY OF PROMISE THROUGH ORAL AND POPULAR TEXTS7 Ebonics and the Struggle for Cultural Voice in U. S. Schools Ira Kincade Blake8 The Potential of Oral Language for Empowerment Jessica S. Bryant9 Voices of Our Youth: Antiracist Social Justice Theatre Arts Makes a Difference in the Classroom Karen B. McLean Donaldson10 The Promise of Critical Media Literacy Rebecca PowellContributorsIndex

"Toward a Literacy of Promise" is an unashamed, courageous and deeply reflective look at literacy education in the lives of African American adolescents. It is theoretically rich, and practically clever, culturally complex and highly relevant to teacher education in the American context and teaching literacy in the 21st century."--Education Review "From discussions of ways literacy instruction has been withheld from, foisted upon, but rarely reveled in or revelatory for African American students to the rich discussions of critical literacy in classrooms, Toward a Literacy of Promise has it all – theory, research, history, personal stories, and visions for teaching."--Carole Edelsky, Arizona State University"Eloquent, passionate and informed by a deep understanding of theory, history and critical pedagogy, this volume demonstrates vital pathways to empowering social change teaching. Through transformative literacy instruction–the 'literacy of promise'–the authors model powerful teaching that challenges us to overcome complacency, ignorance and fear."--Joyce E. King, Georgia State University