Dr. April Baker-Bell is an award-winning author and teacher-scholar whose research “interrogates the intersections of Black Language and literacies, anti-Black racism, and antiracist pedagogies.” Her 2020 book Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy, has garnered much attention and praise for its elevation of Black linguistic practices and pedagogical strategies. You can learn more about the book, and her larger work, here.
Talk: “Linguistic Justice Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy”
In this talk, Dr. April Baker-Bell discussed how anti-Black linguistic racism and white linguistic supremacy get normalized in teacher attitudes, curriculum and instruction, pedagogical approaches, disciplinary discourses, and research, and she discussed the impact these decisions have on Black students’ language education and their linguistic, racial, and intellectual identities. Dr. Baker-Bell introduced a new way forward through Antiracist Black Language Pedagogy, a pedagogical approach that intentionally and unapologetically places Black Language at the center to critically interrogate white linguistic hegemony and anti-Black linguistic racism.
Workshop: “Linguistic Justice: From Theory to Praxis”
In this workshop, Dr. Baker-Bell encouraged participants to deepen their Linguistic Justice practices with an interactive session that supported participants in thinking about how to integrate the ideas from Linguistic Justice into their curriculum and instruction. This guided workshop included activity-based exercises, such as reflection/preflection activities, syllabus design, and strategies for teaching. Participants received a digital workbook and a copy of Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy.
Dr. Baker-Bell’s visit was cosponsored by the Emory Writing Program, Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, Department of Linguistics, the Institute for the Liberal Arts, and Department of African American Studies, and supported by a Hightower Fund grant.