“Another element that literacy brings to the fore just in terms of at least in this field [Composition] is the notion of community [. . .] Whereas these days when we talk about literacy, community is actually at the heart of it. . .. What we know about literacy has come from a study of community literacy practices.” (Kathleen Blake Yancey, “L is for Literacy”)

Kathi’s comments (above) center community in current discussions of literacy, and it is those comments that act as a starting point for our discussion. While the three of us gathered on the Spelman campus for the 2023 Feminist Rhetorics conference, we also came together, inspired by Kathi’s “L for Literacy,” to reflect on our approaches to understanding, researching, teaching about, and experiencing literacy, specifically in community spaces. We initially negotiated literacies together in the same community space(s) at Ohio State as doctoral advisor and advisees. Not surprisingly then, each of us situate our scholarly identities, to varying degrees, in some aspect of community literacy (though from different perspectives)—seeking to document and make legible the rich and complex literacy practices that emerge and circulate within Black community spaces. We offer, in our combined work, counternarratives to deficit literacy narratives that continue to circulate about Black communities in spite of the growing body of literacy scholarship to the contrary.

In this digital essay, we don’t spend time trying to define literacy. As Rory reminds us at the beginning of Kathi’s literacy interview, “practices differ over time by context, across communities, and for individuals depending on changing sponsorships, technologies, identities.” We seek to demonstrate, through our own stories and our broader discussion of literacy, how deeply embedded literacy is in communities’ ways of knowing, ways of doing, and relationships. Kathi’s observation about literacy being at the heart of community prompted us to reflect on the relationship between literacy practices, race, and community. We look to everyday practices in Black families, including our own, among other community spaces, to highlight the ways that literacy is embedded in Black communities. Kathi also reminds us that there is a “public backdrop for literacy”--mainstream perceptions of literacies--that we must account for and address. That public backdrop requires that we continue to amplify community voices and literacy practices—a thread that runs through our work and this essay.

Our essay is divided into three segments. In the first, we highlight the role that families and other local and global communities play in allowing us to recognize literacy in everyday practices, in churches, in agricultural spaces, and in families. This segment also highlights the importance of helping students recognize the various forms of expertise in the communities in which they are embedded. We emphasize not just literacy in community practices but also literacies as communal.

Our second segment explores making undervalued literacy spaces legible and highlights the importance of expanding definitions of literacy given the public backdrop in which discussions of literacy take place in and about literacy practices in our communities. We address how we use literacy “in our own ways and for our own purposes.” Specifically, we emphasize the complexities and richness of literacy in Black communities from self-recognition to community-affirmation. Through these conversations, we document the exigency for broadening the scope of what are considered community literacies to account for literate practices operating within disparate categories and highlighting a range of deliverables. Ultimately, we consider the question of how we as community literacy practitioners can encourage students and community partners to recognize the nuances of literacies while still honoring the ways that different communities affirm their own literacies within and against the public backdrop.

In this final segment, we delve into the nuanced ways Black families and communities engage with digital literacies across varied spaces, highlighting the significance of our family text chains, Black family reunions, and the broader spectrum of technological literacies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI).

We discuss how our family text chains and reunions serve not just as platforms for social and emotional bonding among our families but also as vibrant arenas for the exchange of digital literacies. These spaces become informal classrooms where generations share knowledge, from the latest digital tools to navigating online communities, thereby fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation. Such gatherings are a testament to the communal spirit, emphasizing the collective over the individual, where the sharing of stories, news, family histories and information via digital media strengthens community ties and cultural heritage. Our intent in this segment is to question the impact of deficit digital literacy narratives that unjustly frame marginalized communities by what they purportedly lack, ignoring the rich, diverse literacies that flourish within them. Challenging these narratives means recognizing and valuing the varied literacies Black families and communities engage with, acknowledging their contributions to the digital world, and ensuring their voices and stories are amplified, heard, and respected.

Final Thoughts:

We see our discussion as an invitation for scholars in the field to join us in bringing more community voices into our conversations about literacy. If, as Kathi suggests, and we concur, community is at the heart of literacy, then we must continue to place ourselves in the position to learn from the diverse communities around us and to honor the literacy expertise in these spaces. This shift from a deficit perspective, always in play, to one of acknowledgment and empowerment is essential in fostering equitable literacy landscapes for all of us.

Kathi, congratulations on your retirement. You are an exemplary leader, scholar, and teacher. We are honored to have participated in this project that honors you and your contributions to our field. Thank you for modeling excellence.