Papers by Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz
Routledge eBooks, May 30, 2024
English education, Jul 1, 2016
SUNY Press eBooks, Jul 1, 2022
Routledge eBooks, Jun 22, 2023
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Nov 1, 2022
Research in The Teaching of English, Feb 15, 2021
In a scene from the television series Lovecraft Country (Green & Sackheim, 2020), Letitia "Leti" ... more In a scene from the television series Lovecraft Country (Green & Sackheim, 2020), Letitia "Leti" Lewis calls the spirits of eight Black ancestors that have been trapped in her recently purchased home, along with the ghost of Hiram Epstein, their murderer. Hiram, the previous homeowner and a former scientist fired for "dangerous human experimentation," coordinated with the local police captain to capture, experiment, torture, and murder these eight Black residents in his home. As Hiram haunts and tries to harm Leti, she calls on these ancestors to help her cast Hiram away. "You are not dead yet. You can still fight," she proclaims as Hiram closes in on her. Leti and the ancestors circle around Hiram, hold hands, and chant a spell to cast him out. Their bloody and brutalized bodies, dismembered by Hiram's experimentation, become whole again in solidarity and strength. Hiram disintegrates. This scene is exemplary of both the Black Radical Tradition (Robinson, 2000)-the collection of customs, beliefs, and values through which Black people call out and disrupt individuals and systems of oppression that deny us humanity and dignity-and the recognition of a world system that is "dependent on slavery, violence, imperialism, and genocide" (Robinson, 2000, foreword by Kelley, p. xiii; Stern & Hussain, 2015). In this scene, we witness the power of Black life (and Black afterlives) even in death, and the intergenerational forms of Black resistance exemplified by Leti and these ancestors against harm and indignity. While the show is steeped in science fiction, we recognize the parallels between the experimentation on and police brutality against Black people featured in this drama set in the 1950s and today's police in(action) and the handling of COVID-19 that disproportionately harms Black life. Yet in Lovecraft Country, we witness how the ancestors in Leti's home heal as they confront the harm they experienced and disintegrate their captor. As in this artistic scene in Lovecraft Country, this issue of RTE concludes with an In Dialogue essay by Gwendolyn Baxley and Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz that centers on the nexus of the Black Radical Tradition and healing through poetry. Poetry is a tool to speak truth to power, call out injustice, and envision new realities (Lorde, 2020; Neal, 1969). This essay highlights poetics as a means of healing, resisting,
IAP - Information Age Publishing, Inc., 2021
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education
Equity & Excellence in Education
Language Arts
Teacher educators of antiracist pedagogies must begin by asking ourselves the question: How do is... more Teacher educators of antiracist pedagogies must begin by asking ourselves the question: How do issues of race, class, religion, and sexual orientation live within us?
English Journal
A teacher educator revisits James Baldwin’s notable 1963 speech and advances the Archaeology of S... more A teacher educator revisits James Baldwin’s notable 1963 speech and advances the Archaeology of Self™, a self-awareness model for equity and action.
Multicultural Perspectives
Equity & Excellence in Education
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Oct 3, 2022
Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 2013
Background College reentry women are often older than the traditional college student, and in thi... more Background College reentry women are often older than the traditional college student, and in this study are distinguished from other students because of their parental status as mothers (Johnson-Bailey, 2000; Sealey-Ruiz, 2007). As one of the the fastest growing populations in colleges and universities across the nation, it is alarming that many Black college reentry women, despite their educational gains, continue to face stereotypes about who they are socially, politically, and educationally. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the schooling experiences of Black college reentry mothers (n = 5) and explicate the ways in which they theorize and make meaning of the complexities of their lives, particularly in regard to the intersections of race, college reentry, and motherhood. Research Design Employing qualitative case study and narrative analysis methods, the larger study from which some data for this article derive (Sealey-Ruiz, 2005) examined the educational narrati...
Urban Education, 2021
This article narrates the contours of a digital “kitchen table talk”–a conversation that brought ... more This article narrates the contours of a digital “kitchen table talk”–a conversation that brought together WoC from various areas of literacy and language education to discuss the state of the field and the next steps in transforming literacy studies and education for GFoC. Using bell hooks’s concept of “homeplace,” we bring together the reflections of eleven WoC across intersected Black, Latina, and Asian identities to examine the realities of GFoC, the urgency around their lives and needs, as well as self-examination of our role in the academy taking up feminist projects with GFoC.
Theory Into Practice, 2020
ABSTRACT At a time when schools are destroying the minds and spirits of Black and Brown students,... more ABSTRACT At a time when schools are destroying the minds and spirits of Black and Brown students, as educators, we must work differently to make sure our children’s souls are not claimed by those who refuse to acknowledge their brilliance. The purpose of this essay is to explore the educational activism and scholarship of three Black women educators in an effort to help readers understand how and why they should inform our teacher education and teaching practices today. The authors highlight the lives of Anna Julia Cooper, Mary McCloud Bethune, and Nannie Helen Burroughs, influential women whose work and theories have shaped the field of teacher education. Through a brief historical analysis of their scholarship and practice, the authors examine how these women ignited educational progress for Black children. This piece is written to honor their lives, center their theories on education, and bring them out of obscurity.
Teaching Race in the Twenty-First Century, 2008
This chapter reflects years of experience teaching in college classrooms where the discourses on ... more This chapter reflects years of experience teaching in college classrooms where the discourses on race are explored. Race is a subject that causes discomfort, silence, or anger on the part of white students and often generates feelings of anger or embarrassment by black students. Two studies on teaching race are highlighted. In one, the focus is on two preservice teachers and their racial dispositions, and in the other, the author describes the dynamics and experiences of a 12-week study of first-year composition community college students when race is introduced. The studies demonstrate the salience of race from different perspectives, particularly when viewed through the lenses of identity development and racial literacy.
Teaching Education, 2015
The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with p... more The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &
Urban Education, 2014
Although mentoring programs can produce positive outcomes for youth, more research is needed that... more Although mentoring programs can produce positive outcomes for youth, more research is needed that offers an account of how Black and Latino male mentors and mentees experience mentoring. This phenomenological study highlights the voices of a mentor and 14 Black and Latino males who are part of the Umoja Network for Young Men (UMOJA) an all-male, in-school mentoring program at an alternative high school that serves overage, under-credited students. We extend the concept of culturally responsive caring by examining notions of reciprocal love and an ethos of care that characterize the mentor’s and mentees’ discussions of their mentoring experiences.
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Papers by Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz
REVIEWS
"Sealey-Ruiz opens a world to us in which we are reminded of the importance of speaking truthfully- with both love and rage-- about our past and the lovers and loved ones who bring us to the present-- and home" -- Jacqueline Woodson, Red at the Bone
"raised glass to the glorious risk-and-recovery of life" -- Adam Falkner, The Willies