Critical and Coalitional Pedagogies Embodied by Girls of Color

Abstract

In this article, I explore girlhood pedagogies embodied and enacted by girls of color who participated in a social justice leadership program. I facilitated dialogues with these girls that unearthed how white supremacy and heteropatriarchy shape their sociopolitical realities. Drawing on the insights the girls offered and scholarship from women of color feminists theorizing and enacting solidarity, I define and illustrate critical and coalitional girlhood pedagogies. I evidence how girls of color embodied this praxis by engaging in dialogue in spaces that welcome the gravity, vulnerability, and divergent perspectives that emerged through examinations and reflections on their encounters with oppression and argue that spaces that center critical and coalitional girlhood pedagogies engender criticality, compassionate understanding, and coalitional thinking and acting.