Black Appetite. White Food.

Case Studies of Effective Learning Climates for Civic Reasoning and Discussion

“…In hip-hop culture, "cyphers" have their roots in West African cultural practices (Lyiscott 2019). The cypher within hip-hop is a rhythmic exchange of extemporaneous knowledge and/or movement.…”

“…Freire's (1970) work outlining the top-down nature of schooling as a cultural context where subjectivity and critical consciousness are stifled in favor of rote memorization is still relevant today as the pressures of high-stakes testing and prepackaged curricula foster a teach-to-the-test school culture. In the face of this, decades of educational advocacy and scholarship have sought to shift the institutional and pedagogical dimensions that limit true learning when the climate of school is not responsive to the cultures, realities, and differentiated needs of students (Ladson-Billings 2021;Lyiscott 2019;Lyiscott, Caraballo, and Morrell 2018;Patel 2016;Yosso 2005).…”

Ethnobiology Phase VI: Decolonizing Institutions, Projects, and Scholarship

“…These reflections can continue with examining the history of one's family, customs, and institution in relation to colonial oppression; for example, on whose Indigenous lands were you raised; where do the plant foods you eat come from; and on whose Indigenous lands does your institution exist? Additional approaches to directly examining implicit bias include engaging in "dialogue to action" exercises (Lyiscott 2019) and writing personal "race stories" (Magee 2019;Tatum 2017:112). Critical examination of one's implicit biases also necessitates confronting the historical realities of injustice.…”

Book Review: Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy by Muhammad G

“…In fact, your teacher has been forcing you to abandon your beliefs, knowledge, and lived experiences to officially become a member of society's most "elite" organization-mainstream America. It is a society that values and respects only the beliefs, norms, customs, traditions, rituals, and knowledge of White middle-and upper-class America (Lyiscott, 2019).Unfortunately, this scenario represents present-day life in America's public schools for millions of children and youth of Color 1 (see Emdin, 2016;Gay, 2018;Ladson-Billings, 1994;Nieto, 2010). Despite this reality, we remain hopeful in the belief that change is soon upon us, as does Dr. Gholdy Muhammad in her book, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy.…”

“…Through the lens of the historical literacy of Black societies, Dr. Muhammad (2020) argues that we can transform today's literacy learning and make it more equitable for students of Color by acknowledging the idea that "Literacy was connected to acts of self-empowerment, selfdetermination, and self-liberation" (p. 22). In making this comment, Dr. Muhammad urges readers to conceptualize literacy and use this to enact a change that shapes the sociopolitical landscape of a country built on various instances of social injustice and oppression (Lyiscott, 2019;Sealey-Ruiz, 2011). If used correctly and meaningfully, literacy can empower students to question societal inequities as well as challenge and enhance their sociopolitical consciousness.…”