In my practitioner research, I have noticed that the Sistahs' literacy practices - both written and visual - are certainly full of creativity and self-expression. Yet, the more I consider their creative practices and the more we talk about their work in interviews and group discussions, the more I see their literacy practices reflected in Jacqueline Jones Royster's (2000) concept of "literacy as sociopolitical action." Royster develops this theoretical framework to consider the writing of nineteenth-century African American women writers, specifically essayists. She writes:
The
poems gathered here were written in response to Margaret Walker's
poem I
Want to Write. In rich and complex ways, these poems
suggest the deep social and personal significance of writing in
these young women's lives. Here literacy is envisioned as a kind
of forum for writing about life, documenting it, exploring it, and
perhaps transforming it. Following Royster, I would argue that to
share these personal and political writings in the Sistahs community
and to share them in the even more public arenas in which we have
presented this work can position the young women as authors with
"social and political intent." When the students share
this kind of writing, their literacy work moves from a private transaction
to a more public kind of action. This action often inspires, educates,
and affirms other students in Sistahs. In addition, it is also possible
that in making this work more public this "literacy as sociopolitical
action" may intervene in and challenge the dominant discourses
that shape public perceptions of young women of color.
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