Good soil: The community cultural wealth of Black Seventh-day Adventist schools through the lens of Black males

Abstract

Research concerning Black-led schools has centered around Black public schools prior to desegregation. Much of the data concerning these institutions is dated and the empirical data is limited concerning Black education under Black leadership. The data has found that Black schools under Black leadership had high-quality teachers, elevated principals as community leaders, rigorous academic standards, and developed a socio-political consciousness. However, there is limited knowledge concerning contemporary religious Black schools. This study fills this research gap by utilizing Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis on the reflections of Black males who attended contemporary Black-led Seventh-day Adventist schools. This study found that these Black-led Seventh-day Adventist schools served as producers of four distinct forms of capital. These four forms of capital are navigational, aspirational, religious, and joy.

Keywords:

• Black education
• Christian education
• community cultural wealth
• Black-led schools
• Black males
• African American Christian schools
• Black-led Christian schools

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Evan Willis

Evan Willis is an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and Pastor in the Hidden Valley Community in Charlotte at the Northeast Seventh-day Adventist Church. His research interests include diversity equity & inclusion, race religion culture and class in Christian Schools, Black Education, and Post-Brown Black led Schools. Also, Evan loves providing tools and insight to help educational stakeholders solve complex education issues. He is an alumnus of one of the country’s remaining All-Black boarding Academies, Pine Forge Academy. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Theology degree from Oakwood University, his Master of Divinity from Andrews University, and his Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction with an emphasis in Urban Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.