SOLHOT: black girlhood celebration of love, literacy, hip-hop and motherhood

Abstract

In order to create pedagogical methods and practices committed to educational attainment and healthy lifestyles one must recognize the impact of love as pedagogy. In my paper, I demonstrate how I utilize a concept I call “love practices” within a Black-girl-centered space entitled “Saving Our Lives Hear Our Truths” (SOLHOT). When exploring the utility of love as practice among Black girls, in SOLHOT, at a local middle school in Champaign, Illinois, I ask the following: what is the relationship between love and Black girlhood? What is/are the impetus, motivation(s), and commitments of Black girls to a girl-centered space? What does it mean to be a part of a space for girls that foreground love? To assess Black girls in a context of love practices, I employ autoethnography, a method that permits me to openly discuss my experiences and research as self-reflective interpretations. My key findings, such as humility, listening, practice, imagining a critical space for Black girls, and recognizing complexities of love, are the critical lessons that have contributed to the process of organizing SOLHOT.