Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric Sep 2011 Open Access

A Prison Classroom, African American Literature, and the Pedagogy of Freedom

Patrick Elliot

Abstract

This article examines Alexander’s experiences teaching literacy and African American Literature to prison inmates at the Orange County Correctional facility in Hillsborough, North Carolina. For Alexander the conversations and insights provided by these inmates about their experiences and the experiences of the writers they read were indeed emancipatory. As Alexander explains, the process of reading and discussing the works of African American writers can provide a critical lens for understanding one’s own subjugation, and participates in a long tradition of African American community literacy by helping to transform the lives and minds of a population disproportionately comprised of people of color.

Journal
Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
Published
2011-09-01
DOI
10.59236/rjv11i1pp88-108
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Gold
Topics
writing pedagogy teacher development literacy studies race and writing community literacy literary studies
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References (11) · 1 in this index

  1. Alexander (2010)
    Stepping Stones: A Transitional Program for Post-GED Students
  2. Banks (2003)
    Learning Under Lockdown
    Colorlines
  3. Davis (2003)
    Are Prisons Obsolete?
  4. Freire (1970)
    Pedagogy of the Oppressed
  5. Gates (2000)
    What's Love Got to Do with It?' Critical Theory, Integrity, and the Black Idiom
Show all 11 →
  1. Hedin (1979)
    Teaching Literature in Prisons
    College English
  2. Hooks (1994)
    Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom
  3. Mendez (2006)
    From Corrections to College: Initiative Paves Way to Higher Ed
    City Limits Weekly
  4. Quintana (2010)
    Duke Grad Student Teaches Orange County Inmates
  5. Rodriguez (2005)
    Forced Passages: Imprisoned Radical Intellectuals and the U.S. Prison Regime
  6. Todd (2010)
    Student's Prison Course Yields Literary Insights
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