Dr. Lakeya Afolalu talks to us about freedom, identity as an outcome of language and literacy, and arts as a key to communicating and expression. Dr. Afolalu is known for her work that explores the role of language and literacies in Black African immigrant youth identity constructions and negotiations across school, community, and digital spaces. As an artist and advocate, as well as a former middle school teacher, Lakeya pays particular attention to the intersection of racialization and socialization processes that influence identities. Dr. Afolalu is a Scholars of Color Transitioning into Academic Research Institutions (or STAR) Fellow with the Literacy Research Association and her work won the American Educational Research Association Bilingual Education Research Special Interest Group’s Outstanding Dissertation Award. Dr. Lakeya Afolalu is currently an Assistant Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture at the University of Washington.
To cite this episode: Persohn, L. (Host). (2023, Mar. 14). A conversation with Lakeya Afolalu. (Season 3, No. 20) [Audio podcast episode]. In Classroom Caffeine Podcast series. https://www.classroomcaffeine.com/guests. DOI: 10.5240/F003-DA43-E669-98CB-E29E-N
Connect with Classroom Caffeine at www.classroomcaffeine.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Dr. Lakeya Afolalu talks to us about freedom, identity as an outcome of language and literacy, and arts as a key to communicating and expression. Dr. Afolalu is known for her work that explores the role of language and literacies in Black African immigrant youth identity constructions and negotiations across school, community, and digital spaces. As an artist and advocate, as well as a former middle school teacher, Lakeya pays particular attention to the intersection of racialization and socialization processes that influence identities. Dr. Afolalu is a Scholars of Color Transitioning into Academic Research Institutions (or STAR) Fellow with the Literacy Research Association and her work won the American Educational Research Association Bilingual Education Research Special Interest Group’s Outstanding Dissertation Award. Dr. Lakeya Afolalu is currently an Assistant Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture at the University of Washington.
To cite this episode: Persohn, L. (Host). (2023, Mar. 14). A conversation with Lakeya Afolalu. (Season 3, No. 20) [Audio podcast episode]. In Classroom Caffeine Podcast series. https://www.classroomcaffeine.com/guests. DOI: 10.5240/F003-DA43-E669-98CB-E29E-N
Connect with Classroom Caffeine at www.classroomcaffeine.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Education Research has a problem the work of brilliant education researchers often doesn't reach the practice of brilliant teachers. Classroom Caffeine is here to help. In each episode, I talk with a top education researcher or an expert educator about what they have learned from years of research and experiences. In this episode, dr Likia Afilalu talks to us about freedom, identity as an outcome of language and literacy, and arts as a key to communicating an expression.
Speaker 1:Dr Afilalu is an ethnographic scholar who specializes in the intersections of language, literacy, race and identity. Her hybrid identity as a Nigerian and African American influenced her current research project, which explores the role of language and literacies, including digital literacies, in Black African immigrant youth, identity constructions and negotiations across school community and digital spaces. Dr Afilalu pays particular attention to the intersection of racialization and socialization processes that influence identities. She draws on her lived experiences, the wisdom of her former middle school students and the arts to inform her approach to shifting static ideas about identity. Dr Afilalu is a Scholar of Color, transitioning into academic research institutions or STAR Fellow with the Literacy Research Association, and her work won the American Educational Research Association Bilingual Education Research Special Interest Group's Outstanding Dissertation Award. Dr Likia Afilalu is currently an assistant professor of Language Literacy and Culture at the University of Washington. For more information about our guest, stay tuned to the end of this episode. So pour a cup of your favorite drink and join me your host Lindsay Persan for Classroom Caffeine research to energize your teaching practice.
Speaker 1:Likia, thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the show, thank you so much for having me. It's truly a pleasure. Seriously, Thank you.
Speaker 1:So, from your own experiences and education, will you share with us one or two moments that inform your thinking now?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great question. I think about one memory that sticks with me in particular, and that is so. I grew up in Detroit, michigan, and my mom and her sister were very close while we were growing up. So my mom has three children, my aunt has four children, so on the weekends what we would do is we would drive from Detroit with my mom and my sisters and we would go about a few miles north to Arbenhills, which is a suburb right outside of Detroit, and so we would be playing with our cousins and things like that. And me I was about seven or eight and I would just never forget the differences. Like my cousins would come home with these chapter books from school. They would have the longer versions of the shortened versions that we had at Detroit public schools.
Speaker 2:And so that's when I didn't know what it was called back then. Looking back, I was like, oh, bazel text readers versus access to the full book, and so we would spend time going back and forth in the summer as well as just throughout the school year, and I noticed very early how vastly different our educational experiences were. And I didn't know what that was. I didn't know any terms like equity, access or things like that back then. But I realized that, oh wow, where you live, your zip code, truly does determine the type of education and the quality of education that you get.
Speaker 2:And so I've moved through life, continue to go through elementary, and then another thing that came up was when I was in middle school and I didn't even know this was happening my teachers hadn't prepared me for it but some guy who walks into my school building and we go into this room and we have this conversation and he's interviewing me, and I find out a few months later that I was recruited to go to their boarding school in Wisconsin based on my state test scores, and I had to make a really important decision. I was what? 12, 13 at the time. So do I go to the high school that I've been wanting to go to for a while in Detroit, michigan, or do I leave family and friends and go to a boarding school in Wisconsin?
Speaker 2:And I would never forget looking at that brochure and everyone there. There was not a single face that looked like mine, like there were white students, there were Asian students. It was clearly an international school and I was like, as much as I love learning, reading and challenging myself, this does not look like the place for me, and so, really thinking about how that informs my thinking now, I do believe that youth of color, especially black youth, who live in communities, urban communities, city communities like Detroit, I am really big on making sure that they don't have to leave home in order to get a quality educational experience. And so you know those small moments as a child, seven, eight years old, and then again at middle school, these very defining moments do still stick with me and they informed the way that I think about education, down to my teaching, how I share my research now, this idea that we have to leave home in order to get something really good around education.
Speaker 1:Wow. First of all, it strikes me as kind of an odd opportunity in this day and age to be interviewed to go to a boarding school out of state at that age. You know, it doesn't seem as though that's a strong opportunity for folks now and I hope that means that it's because they're getting a good education close to home.
Speaker 1:But, my fear is that a lot of kids still aren't, and you know. And so the other thing that I was really struck by, as you were sharing those stories with us, laquia, is that, first of all, yes, zip codes do really, really matter, but you know, the ways in which our own experiences really shape who we become as adults, and that's one reason I ask that question, because I feel like it does lead us into the work that folks do in their adult professional lives, because I think all of those experiences, our own educational experiences, they point us in a particular direction. Right, they sort of point our ship one way or another. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And whether we're trying to create new experiences or new opportunities for others, or sometimes it's just to uncover, you know, the inequities in education. Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it set me on a path. I was like I decided at a very early age. I was like I'm going to become a teacher, I'm going to become an educator, I'm going to teach in cities like mine, because I just felt like every and this was me as a child saying every child deserves a quality education experience. Granted, I wasn't using, I didn't use those words, you know, I and my mom she would talk about I would play school at home and, you know, just during the summer, I would always ask her to buy me materials like a chalkboard or a whiteboard. And it did set me on a path, you know, to become an educator. And when I think about what I'm doing today, it still goes back to that same idea.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you're right. And even even as kids, if we don't have the language for it, I think it is sort of this embodied mindset, right, it is just sort of part of of who we are. I think there are so so many folks who become teachers who can reflect on you know, whether it's lining up stuffed animals or bossing siblings around you know, whatever the case may be right, yes, it's in you. It's in you from the start.
Speaker 2:It's in you. My sisters would say we're not your students, but you know.
Speaker 1:but so true, yes, so, lekea, what do you want listeners to know about your work?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, and you know, and I say whenever I like think about this word or whenever I think about this term, it's a bit of a challenge, attention, if you will, to call it work, because it's so much connected to my life and so much connected to the lives of others. But just to give an overview of it, it's my work focuses on black African immigrant youth and so really asking a few questions. So you know, especially in the Western African region, particularly Nigeria, and I ask a few questions that I ask what happens to their identity when they move to the United States, and how does language literacy, and especially digital literacies, play a role in their identity processes? And so I ask those questions mostly because, unlike a place like Nigeria or Western Africa that's, it's not designed or structured by race. Obviously there's ethnicity, there's language, there's class, lots of gender things happening there as well, but very different from the United States, where you inherit a racial identity and a huge part of you know, showcasing who you are is choosing a sense of belonging and through your race. And so that's what my work focuses on. And the reason why I do focus on that work is because it's the story of my life too. My dad is Nigerian, he migrated to the United States in the 1980s and my mom is African American.
Speaker 2:So many times during my schooling experience I thought a lot about, or certain identities, or certain cultural expectations or values were projected onto me, as well as when I was, you know, with my Nigerian family, and so I just always felt like who I was and the way that I identified was very much fragmented and a bit constrained based on these external identities, and so I spent my entire life, like you know, unraveling from them. And so it really led me to my research when I was teaching in Harlem, new York, seventh grade classroom, very diverse students from all over the world Puerto Rico, dominican Republic, west African country, senegal, gambia, mali, and so New York is such a diverse place. But I noticed that my first gen and even immigrant students who had just migrated to the United States, for the most part, when they came from, you know, latin American, Central American countries, they were very proud of their identities in the classroom, like you know, waving their flags. But I noticed that I saw parts of myself reflected in my West African students, where they didn't necessarily showcase their identities in the classroom Now online. They were very proud, you know, especially during Ramadan, and you know, dressing up outside and taking pictures, and I thought, wow, here I am as an adult, years later, seeing the same thing.
Speaker 2:So it made me think about, well, what is it about school spaces in particular that influence the way that African, immigrant, first gen or even, you know, just immigrant youth show up in the school spaces? And so that is my work, and I asked that question because what I'm really getting to at the core of my work, is this idea of freedom, this idea that, you know, youth get to choose who they are, how they identify and ways that they want to show up in the world. And I think that's so important because for youth, you know, there's this idea that you're young and you should follow instruction and follow directions, especially when you add culture to the mix. It's this idea that we are this, so we do it this way in our culture, and that can be really stifling. And so, yeah, that's an overview pretty much of like my work.
Speaker 1:What you're saying, likia. It just makes me think about how many different types of identities young people are navigating right and I can I can feel sort of the weight of that fragmentation, as you're talking about that right, because school has a set of expectations, families have a set of expectations, our own communities have sets of expectations, and so making sense of that and still feeling whole and individual, it's such big work and I don't know if we, if we, always acknowledge that for young people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I love that you mentioned whole, because what I noticed and what I with working with the Nigerian youth we were in central Texas and what I noticed was that, like their language and literacy practices were less about like communication, but it was like when I speak this way, when I dress this way, I experience joy or I am happy, I feel connected to my friends. So really, that connection between the social, the emotional and why it's important to be able to choose how you show up in the world, and so I'm starting to think about this a little bit more now. But it's really getting down to like mental and emotional health.
Speaker 1:I hope you'll say more about that, because this idea that language and literacy is not really about communicating right, it's really about identity. That's such a big idea to wrap our heads around, particularly when school-based literacies tell us that it is all about communication. I'm hoping you'll share a little bit more with us about the work you've done and what you've learned from that work, and maybe even how teachers can support young people doing this kind of work, whether they know they're doing it or not.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah. And so, like I mentioned, I mostly saw it with the girls. I worked with three girls, amazing Nigerian girls, and three amazing Nigerian boys. And so what happened? Sadly and I just recently wrote a piece about this but this idea that, like the silence that happens in schools around their accents and I put accents in air quotes because, at the end of the day, we all have accents, right, so this accentent English and so, because of that experience in school, the girls would spend a lot of time on WhatsApp, on digital platforms, communicating in ways, whether that's through Nigerian pigeon, through gifts, through memes, through sharing songs, through music, afro beats, in ways that felt authentic and unique to who they were.
Speaker 2:And so our identity, as many scholars have written about, and it even shows up in my own work our identity is an outcome of our language and literacy practices that we use. So to think that it's just communicative or that it's just objective and just an assignment, that's not true. And so what I found was that when youth are given the opportunity, the freedom and especially given a diverse range of ways to communicate, it does impact the social and emotional aspects of our identities. And so, just thinking about one of the girls that I'm using this suit and for this interview. But her name was Sarai, and her mom described her as very talkative before she came to the United States. But she became really quiet and so she would spend more time creative writing in class. So writing was then now a medium through which she could express herself, but not writing what the teacher wanted her to write about, but topics of her interest, and so that was one way where she would just, you know, express herself, feel a sense of joy.
Speaker 2:Also, the arts. The arts are so important dance, different extracurricular activities, music, visual arts and so how. Those are very much connected to the human experience and those are literacies beyond simply communication, and so I'm really getting at the root of creativity. I'm really talking about expression and being able to make those choices for self. So, for teachers, the question that I would ask is how does your classroom account for and allow diverse ways to participate? We live in the US. Everything is very talk centric. The main way to identify whether or not someone is participating is are you talking? I didn't hear anything from you, but understanding that there are multiple ways to participate and there are multiple ways to express ourselves, and it's not just through print and it's not just through speaking.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so important. You said a couple of things there that I just wanted to kind of pick back up on. You talk about identity as an outcome of language and literacy, and I think for me that of course, in my world, literacy is, is so important, right. Literacies, I should say, are so important, but when we frame literacies as a part of identity, I think it just elevates it that much more right? Because, like you said, we're not just talking about communicating, but we're talking about how communication and the ways that we communicate, becomes a part of who we are. And so I think when in schools, when we limit students to either, as you said, talking or written written word for communicating, we aren't really allowing them to express their full range of ideas, their full range of capabilities, or even to become fully themselves. And I think to some ears that could sound extreme, but I think it's so true, right, I mean, what we say and what we write, what we read, all of those things become a part of who we are.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. And I cannot take credit for the idea that language, the identity, is an outcome of language and literacy. I have to give credit to Fabian Doucette. She's a phenomenal scholar at New York University, at NYU, but I do want to say that it is, and the question I always like to ask well, who's who's listening and who's evaluating right? Because I always think about it may sound extreme, but extreme to whom when?
Speaker 2:Like, is it for people who don't necessarily have to change the way that they engage with literacy practices across the day? Is it for people who don't necessarily have to trans language right and think about ways that we have to alter speech or all these different things? And I like to, even in my classes now, when I'm working with my students, it's, like you know who gets to decide, who's evaluating, who's determining and making these decisions. And I think to say, if it sounds extreme, then the question is are we truly tapping into and aiming to understand youth experiences and I say it's not just students, but youth, because I like to think about them as, like you know, people outside of their academic identities as well, right, because their school experiences are so much connected to who they are outside as well.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so important. I appreciate you sort of reframing that idea and reframing that thinking, because it is critical that we think critically about whose voice matters and who gets to decide, because I think so often inside of schools, the way things have always been done, so to speak, right, it's the way things continue to be done, absolutely and without calling that into question, we are sticking with a standard that privileges one type of idea, one type of people, one type of history. And if only right, if only we could move away from some of those ideas in education, some of those sort of baked in kinds of challenges with the way that we serve kids at school.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And just also like recalling it what it is to that one standard privileging whiteness. It truly is whiteness, privileging whiteness in school spaces. And that rigidity, that hesitation to change things is also intentional. It is by design.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, for sure. And you know, I wonder if we were to reach some sort of critical mass of teachers who were calling these practices into question and were saying why is it that we privilege this one way of thinking or this one way of communicating?
Speaker 2:Could we really?
Speaker 1:make a difference, Because it does seem as though it's going to take. It's going to take individual change, but it's also going to take some systemic change to really give kids space to be who they are and become who they're becoming.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And so another thing I guess this is like on the other extreme, and I again in my own research, my own work, my own life, and I always challenge my students, my pre-service teachers as well as my graduate students, to really think about do we want to give the most authentic parts of ourselves to academic and educational spaces too? Right, so, even allowing students to have some choice around that, the invitation should be there, and the idea that there are multiple ways to participate should be there. But it is still the decision of the youth, not the educator, how that participation is going to be demonstrated, if you will. And so I think the invitation should always be there, that there should always be a diverse array of ways to participate. But if a student says, I'm actually not comfortable, or especially around things, with culture, because identity is a very touchy subject and it's so personal, so intimate, so vulnerable, but also understanding that if a student does not want to, then that's an option as well. That goes back to that freedom and that choice and that autonomy.
Speaker 1:I think you just blew my mind a little bit and I certainly appreciate that any time it happens, Because school also tells us that we are to listen and do what we're told and check off all the boxes and get all the good grades.
Speaker 1:But you're absolutely right, Kids should also have the freedom and the flexibility to say not me, not, right now, I can't do this, or I'm not there yet, or I need time, or I need to respond differently, or I need to refrain from responding. And so, yeah, I really appreciate that reminder and I mean we are talking about true freedom here. We are talking about freedom and autonomy and really having some control over the way that our school day or our day in general plays out, Because I think for so many youth, their time is rather school-centric right, I mean, it's where they spend most of their waking hours, so that's understandable. But, yes, having that kind of freedom and flexibility and control within those seven to eight hours a day or, in some places, even more that they're spending in schools, that's just so important. And you've given me a lot to continue thinking about, about how we make space for youth to be humans, fully humans. Yes, that right there.
Speaker 2:Yeah absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1:So you also mentioned the arts as a key to communication and expression, and I'm aware that you are a bit of an artist yourself also, and so I'm hoping that you may share some whether personal or professional insights into how that might look. Or, if you know, if I were a teacher listening to this episode, how could I get started on making space for other ways of thinking and other ways of responding in my own classroom tomorrow? Yeah, how do we do that?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, and just to share, I love the arts. I started to like conceptual, or finally adopt the identity as an artist when I'm like, oh my gosh, I love photography, I love creative writing, when I think about the arts and the role that they played in sustaining me throughout school, because that was just a way for me to make sense of all these boxes, identity boxes that I've been placed in, and so, through dance, creative dance, modern dance, ballet, all the different arts that I was involved in and I just will never forget. And just again, going back to freedom, made me feel very free in my own little world or fictional characters that I would write and create. So when I think about teachers, I think about I'll give.
Speaker 2:When I was in Harlem, new York, when I taught in Harlem, new York, I had many different opportunities for my students. So I just one example like we'd have an argumentative unit. They would read like a book by Sharon Draper, and so instead of just saying, write an essay about it, I would give them options. We would call it like a choice board. You can write a poem, you can create a podcast, you could create a play with you know, a small theatrical play with two of your maybe two to three classmates. So that was something that I would do.
Speaker 2:I would always think about what mediums could students use to showcase what they know, not just like what they know, but also teaching the classroom. I would always say that my students were also, you know, co-teachers in the learning space, and I am really big on partnering with community organizations. So we had Harlem Theater come to my classroom. I worked with another teacher, we invited them in, and so sometimes, you know, understanding that just because I'm the teacher, I'm not the only one who is teaching I would bring in, you know, community educators and also the Schomburg Museum. We would, you know, go to different sites like that, and it's one thing to read about Malcolm X in Harlem, but it's another thing to go to the Schomburg Museum and actually, you know, be immersed in that history. And so I would say, teachers, one provide choices around the type of mediums that are available to showcase, you know, especially in the age of Common Core and all these different standards, but then also never underestimating what's right there in the community, especially communities of color, especially communities with deep, rich histories, and so partnering with people in the community and bringing them inside the classroom, or taking the classroom, you know, to community spaces. So I think that's really important too.
Speaker 2:And another way of thinking about integrating the arts. I think we probably all know it today that youth are like running technology, it's their world, and sometimes it could be seen as like a bad thing, but if you really look at the skills, the time, the strategy, the knowledge that goes into a lot of the things that youth create online, bringing those skills into the classroom in a way, in ways that are, you know, safe for the learning community, but drawing on the skills and knowledge that the students already have, you know. And so I would just say those three things One, diversifying the ways that students are able to showcase and engage with the content in the classroom. Two, I'm thinking about community partnerships. So thinking about the classroom beyond the walls of the school, beyond the walls of the classroom, partnering with people in the community, taking youth out into the community. And then, finally, really drawing on what students already have and what they're already using.
Speaker 1:You've got some fantastic ideas and some, I think, real ways that anyone could get started on this kind of path. And while you were talking about things that you've done and potential opportunities, I got this image in my mind, of sort of this 360 degree view of what school could be like and how that whole entity of school and including community members and a variety of resources it also contributes to a whole 360 degree understanding of who we are as learners. And I think the opposite is true too right. Whenever school is reduced to bells and lines and right and you know perfunctory kinds of missions, then I think in my mind I see a shrinking kind of personal identity.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, so yeah, I really appreciate that and I tend to be a very visual thinker. So, as you're describing that, I think about the world all around us and how we can bring that in to make sense of who we are and the ideas that we're learning.
Speaker 2:So, and that really connects to the point that I made earlier about like what informs my experiences, because there's anything I've learned from traveling as a young girl and even now as an adult in my travels, is that money right Class that determines, again in your zip code, the type of education that you get. So I do know that. You know, I remember I had to do an observation on the Upper East Side of New York City. It was like the Dalton School and they were immersed in the youth in the community through their travels. People were brought in, authors were brought in, and so I'm like, why can't we replicate that? For you know, title I schools for schools where it's predominantly black and brown youth. And so I think about when I think about the arts. You can think about over the last two decades, how many art programs were eliminated from public schools across the nation.
Speaker 2:And so that really takes me back to this idea of access and making sure that students, despite where you are, that you are going to the museum and I know there's obviously ways to think about museums right in a non colonial context but that you are able to have authentic. You know you get to hear I invited authors to my classroom for the graphic novels. They came to speak to my students, so there are ways around it that can take place at home without having to leave the community.
Speaker 1:Right. We've all gotten so used to talking with each other through platforms like zoom and other kinds of technologies. You know, I think sometimes, if you can't get to them, perhaps they can come to you through the magic of technology, absolutely, and while that may not be exactly the same, yeah. I would think that it's better than not doing it at all.
Speaker 2:I agree. I agree yes.
Speaker 1:And if you are, if that's what we have access to, then I you know, I think that there are so many opportunities that we can explore and even if you think I don't have, you know, the funding to get my kids there. We aren't allowed to leave the school right there. Regulations around field trips, true, but chances are you can explore using, using technologies.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And I will say, when I was a classroom teacher, I was a rebel with a cause. I would say I know we're supposed to do it this way, but I'm going to do it this way.
Speaker 1:I happen to think there's a lot of value in that, so Absolutely. Yep, yeah. So, Likia, given the challenges of today's educational climate, nice segue there into this next question what message do you want teachers to hear?
Speaker 2:I like to say I guess we're doing a full, bringing it back to kind of where we started that there is no demarcation line between education and society.
Speaker 2:And I mean, if we go back to the history of schools and how they were created and why certain populations were even given access to an education here in the United States, it was always for some societal or economic gain or political gain.
Speaker 2:And so I would just say, thinking about how education is very much connected to society, and to not get it's easier said than done, but to not get as bogged down by all the systematic things that are happening, and to understand the power that you hold as an educator and I always tell my students that because you have a perspective, even whether it's like you listen into a podcast or you know be reading an article whatever or reading a book, or that you hold a perspective that could truly change a student's experience in the classroom. And so hold on to that, hold on to the fact that you think about writing differently, that you think about racial justice in the classroom differently, and no, you may not change the policy in your district, but your students in the classroom will remember that they were invited to create a play instead of, you know, the five paragraph essay, and so thinking about how your knowledge, your experience, especially your lived experiences as an educator, can and does have the power to truly change and alter and transform what happens and can happen in your classroom.
Speaker 1:What a powerful message, and I thank you for sharing that, because I think it is easy to lose sight of ourselves as full and total humans, particularly when we're surrounded by dehumanizing policies and, unfortunately, even dehumanizing people. So I really appreciate that and I think that there is so much power to be found in our own sort of personal spaces, where we work and where we play and where we live. So I thank you so much for that.
Speaker 2:You're so welcome.
Speaker 1:Well, Laquia, I thank you for your time today. I thank you for sharing your ideas and appreciate your contributions to the world of education.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me and giving me this space to be in community with you. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Dr Laquia Alfalalu is an ethnographic scholar who specializes in the intersections of language, literacy, race and identity. She has a hybrid identity as a Nigerian and African American. Coupled with her former role as a middle school teacher influenced her current research project, which explores the role of language literacies, including digital literacies and black African immigrant youth identity construction and negotiations across school community and digital spaces. This is on how United States racialization processes and racial identity constructs, reshapes their identity, languages and literacy practices. Laquia draws on her lived experiences, the wisdom of her former middle school students and the arts to inform her creative approaches to shifting static ideas about identity. A critical part of her work includes putting her research and critical theories into practice through school and community partnerships to support youth of color identities and well-being. Dr Alfalalu is a scholars of color transitioning into academic research institutions or STAR Fellow with the Literacy Research Association. She is also a National Council of Teachers of English cultivating new voices or CNB Fellow. Her work won the American Educational Research Association bilingual education research special interest groups outstanding dissertation award. In collaboration with colleagues, she served as a co-principal investigator and advisory board member for a William T Grant Foundation grant, offering critical literacy insights and knowledge. Her academic research extends across the fields of literacy, language education, sociology, as well as immigration and race and ethnic studies, and has appeared in the Journal of Literacy Research, journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, teacher's College Record and the Journal of Research and Childhood Education. She also uses her teaching, creative writing and public speaking to advocate for youth and families, fostering public conversations and social impact in relation to identity and education. She has spoken on TEDx talks, national Public Radio and at SXSW. Her writing has been featured in Essence Magazine and Zora Magazine. Most recently, dr Afalalu founded a nonprofit organization, liddy Arts that's L-I-T-I-A-R-T-S, which uses literacy, the arts and mentorship to advance educational equity for youth of color, while keeping their identities and well-being at the core. Dr Afalalu holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education from Michigan State University, a Masters of Arts in Curriculum and Teaching Literacy from the Teacher's College at Columbia University and a PhD in Language and Literacy Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr Lakiya Afalalu is currently an assistant professor of Language, literacy and Culture at the University of Washington. You can reach her online at LakiyaAffalalucom. That's L-A-K-E-Y-A-A-F-O-L-A-L-Ucom.
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