Dyasporic dreaming: the extraordinary literacies and superpowers of Haitian and Haitian American Girls

Abstract

This article focuses on the extraordinary literacies of four Haitian and Haitian American Girls enrolled in a middle grades out-of-school literacy program in Miami, Florida. I examine how the girls narrated Black transnational girlhood through autobiographical writings, classroom discussions, and media analyses. I define the girls’ intellectual contributions to the classroom as the superpower of dyasporic dreaming. The concept calls on scholars to affirm the global negotiations of Black transnational girls as literacies. Further, I argue that the superpower of dyasporic dreaming manifested through learning dynamics grounded in Haitian empyreal logics of Vodou and the Diasporic Lakou. Lastly, I make a case for an increased focus on the transnational nature of Black Girls’ Literacies, and curriculum specifically oriented towards the Black Global South.

Keywords:

• Haitian girls
• Black Girl literacies
• transnationality
• literacy instruction
• curriculum and instruction

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wideline Seraphin

Wideline Seraphin is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Studies within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Arlington. Her work explores the intersections of race, gender, transnationality, and language in the literate lives of Black girls using Black Feminist Thought, Critical Literacies, and Black Geographies.