Picturing Ethnic Studies: Photovoice and Youth Literacies of Social Action UC Riverside UC Riverside Previously Published Works Title Picturing Ethnic Studies: Photovoice and Youth Literacies of Social Action Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5zz3m597 Journal Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 61(1) ISSN 1081-3004 Author de los Ríos, CV Publication Date 2017-07-01 DOI 10.1002/jaal.631 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5zz3m597 https://escholarship.org http://www.cdlib.org/ 15 FEATURE ARTICLE Picturing Ethnic Studies: Photovoice and Youth Literacies of Social Action Cati V. de los Ríos Chicanx students use photovoice to articulate the importance of their high school ethnic studies course. I n 2010, R epubl ica n legislators f rom A r izona cre- ated House Bill 2281 specif ically to outlaw Mexican A mer ic a n Stud ie s i n t h at s t at e’s publ ic s cho ol s (Cabrera, Milem, Jaquette, & Marx, 2014). Banning the Mex ica n A mer ica n Stud ies Prog ra m i n t he T ucson Unified School District, which had a reputable academic curriculum that improved student learning outcomes (Cabrera et  a l., 2014), (re)inv igorated the movement for Mexican American Studies and other ethnic stud- ies courses throughout the United States, especially C a l i for n i a ( Buen av i s t a , 2 016). A s t h i s momentu m builds, more U.S. public school districts are enthusias- tically offering ethnic studies courses. In the last three years, nearly a dozen of the largest and most racially di- verse California school districts have created historical resolutions to mandate ethnic studies as a high school graduation requirement. As educators bear witness to growing social and ra- cial inequalities and the significant increase of students of color in our classrooms, a critical pedagogy of ethnic studies is necessary to increase race- conscious inquiry in literacy classrooms (de los Ríos, López, & Morrell, 2015). Although the intellectual and pedagogical merits of ethnic studies are eminent, ongoing ideological bat- tles over curriculum and the representation of Mexican Americans and other communities of color in textbooks remain a contentious issue nationwide, particularly in the Southwest (Weissert, 2016). Based on a 10- month ethnographic study, this ar- ticle demonstrates how photovoice (Wang & Burris, 1997), a participator y photo- elicitation methodology, was used to understand youths’ nuanced perspectives about an ethnic studies curriculum. Inspired by Zenkov and Harmon (2009), photovoice here is used as a mu- tua lly informing research and pedagogica l method. Photovoice seeks to embolden participants to take pow- er and control over the research process through their documentation of the social and political dimensions of their lives via photographs and accompanying writ- ten narratives for the purpose of social transformation (Delgado, 2015). This study is situated in a secondar y Chicanx/Latinx Studies (CLS) course; the x signif ies a gender-inclusive alternative to the masculine- centric Chicano and Latino and the gender binary in Chicana/o and Latina/o. The overarching question that guides this inquiry is, How do students articulate the importance of ethnic studies courses in their lives? In this article, I f irst situate the rationale for this study and then the purpose of ethnic and CLS. Second, I describe the secondary classroom and context. Third, I delineate the conceptual framework that I engaged and the methods through which I collected and ana- lyzed data. Fourth, I examine excerpts of Chicanx (of Mexican descent) students’ photovoice compositions, which sought to document students’ voices through photographs and accompanying ref lections. A discus- sion of the research follows, as well as implications for educators who turn to ethnic studies to encourage so- cial transformation and change in their literacy class- rooms, regardless of whether one has the opportunity to create and teach ethnic studies courses. Rationale On Sept ember 12 , 2016, Ca l i for n ia G over nor Jer r y Br ow n s i g ne d i nt o l aw A s s embly m a n Lu i s A lejo’s Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 61 No. 1 pp. 15–24 doi: 10.1002/jaal.631 © 2017 International Literacy Association CATI V. DE LOS RÍOS is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Riverside, USA; e-mail catidlr@ucr.edu. mailto:catidlr@ucr.edu 16Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 61 No. 1 July/August 2017 literacyworldwide.org FEATURE ARTICLE (D –Salinas) landmark Assembly Bill 2016, which will develop a model for standards- based ethnic studies curricula for public secondary schools by 2019. With the first legislation of its kind, California now leads the United States in sanctioning ethnic studies courses and making them accessible statewide. California’s recent v ictor y d i rectly counters the xenophobic trends in Arizona, where state policies banned such curricula in 2010. Despite California’s momentous strides, how- ever, a paucity of empirical research has provided few windows into the impact of these academically rigorous courses, especially from students’ perspectives. A lthough secondar y ethnic studies courses have existed since the late 1960s, students’ access to these c l a s s e s h a s b e en l i m it e d (de lo s R ío s et  a l ., 2 01 5). Scholars have identified ethnic studies courses as a con- duit for robust literacy skills (Morrell, Dueñas, García, & López, 2013), academic achievement (Cabrera et al., 2014), young peoples’ transformative praxis (San Pedro, 2015), increased student attendance (Dee & Penner, 2016), and fecund soil for critical thinking (de los Ríos, 2013). According to a recent position statement by the National Council of Teachers of English (2015), ethnic studies “has always been invested in providing equal access to literacy, encouraging democratic principles, and promoting different ways of knowing—of produc- ing and disseminating knowledge” (para. 3). Given the racial inequity present in K–12 curricula and standards (Sleeter, 2005; Vasquez Heilig, Brown, & Brown, 2012) and the enduring racialized misreading of students of color (Sealey- Ruiz & Greene, 2015), educators must look toward ethnic studies to enhance humanizing literacy experiences for all students, or what Freire (1970) con- sidered literacy experiences that honor students’ full humanity. Ethnic Studies and CLS Scholars of ethnic studies have long argued that race a nd r ac i s m a r e de eply woven i nt o t he t ap e s t r y of colonia l ism a nd expa nsionism in the United States (Hu- DeHart, 1993; Takaki, 1993). The “one- sided histo- ricity” (Trouillot, 1995, p. 4) that dominates Western s c h o l a r s h i p , c u r r i c u l a , a n d s c h o o l i n g t o o o f t e n priv ileges social, political, and economic systems of power (Apple, 1982). Okihiro (2014) posited that ethnic studies is not sim- ply about the inclusion or celebration that communities of color “too had heroes and ‘great’ civilizations” (p. 150), nor is it the mere addition of writers of color. Rather, according to Okihiro, ethnic studies foregrounds an alternative vision of U.S. history and culture that was broadly inclusive, humanizing, and replete w ith the fervor of social activism: [Ethnic studies] noted a global dimension to the American experience, both in the imperial expansion of European peoples and in the incorporation of America’s ethnic minor- ities. But beyond recapturing historical and contemporary realities and extending the community’s reach, ethnic stud- ies fundamentally sought to move the pivot, by fracturing the universalism of white men and by repositioning gender, class, race, and sexuality from the periphery to the core, de- centering and recentering the colors and patterns of the old fabric. (p. 151) In the late 1960s, university and K–12 students, par- ents, educators, and community members in the San Francisco Bay Area embodied this vision of education as they advocated for the inclusion of histories, cur- ricula, and pedagogies of the oppressed (Freire, 1970) in educational institutions beyond a multiculturalist approach (Umemoto, 1989). This social movement, the Third World Liberation Front, centered the decolonial texts of Frantz Fanon and Albert Memmi and advanced an antiracist educational agenda to overturn previous centuries of colonial education for “third world” com- munities living in the United States (Okihiro, 2016). Given the shifting demographics and the surge of Mex ica n- a nd Latin x- or ig in students in Ca l i for n ia, ma ny school d istr icts have implemented a ra nge of ethnic studies courses, including Mexican American Studies. Mexican American Studies courses, often syn- ony mous w ith Chicano Studies and Chicano/Latino Studies, restore and mobilize the decolonial histories, literatures, epistemologies, and resistance practices of Mexican- origin and other Latinx people (Muñoz, 1989) to the center of U.S. classrooms. Ethnic studies and its subdisciplines, such as CLS, examine socially con- structed racialization processes in the United States and the ways that these processes are concretized by social, economic, and political powers (Omi & Winant, 1994) to elicit actions and literacies of social change. Photographs and Literacies New Literacy Studies (NLS) has stretched the concept of literacy beyond its traditional understanding of print literacy to forge more nuanced, multimodal, and mul- tilingual comprehensions of reading and writing for an increasingly globalized world (New London Group, 1996; Street, 1995). In a theoretical shift in perspective around literacy, NLS moved from a cognitive model, which focuses on a person’s literacy acquisition, to em- phasizing the social and cultural interactions around 17Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 61 No. 1 July/August 2017 literacyworldwide.org FEATURE ARTICLE literacy practices (Gee, 1996; Street, 1995). Grounded in an understanding that multiple literacies exist and are situated within social and cultural practices (New London Group, 1996), NLS focuses on the central role of power; simply put, certain forms of literacy in soci- ety are more sanctioned than others (Street, 1984). A persistent shortcoming of NLS, however, is the insuffi- cient attention to the literate lives of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse young people (Fisher, 2005; Skerrett, 2013). With this concern in mind, this study centralizes Chicanx students’ photographs and writing. Photovoice as both literacy pedagogy and research method can generate pathways for educators who seek to bridge the social and political realities of students i nt o t hei r w r it i n g i n st r uc t ion (Zen kov & Ha r mon , 2009). Marquez- Zenkov and Harmon (2007) delineated the ways in which youths’ knowledge of visual texts, such as photographs, can provide both a window into adolescents’ dis/engagement with school and a multi- faceted channel for teaching an appreciation for lit- eracy. Van Horn (2008) argued that student- produced visual texts can motivate adolescents to engage more deeply in literacy assignments, and Johansen and Le (2014) outlined the ways in which photographs can be used to explore cultura l d i f ferences a mong d iverse adolescents. With deep roots in the dialogical ethics of Freire (1970), photovoice emerged as an approach to partici- patory research that cultivates humanization and an awareness of social conditions (Wang & Burris, 1997). Researchers in literacy have detailed the different forms of youth empowerment that can arise from photovoice projects, especially for students who have felt marginal- ized in school settings (Zenkov et al., 2012). When cou- pled with an ethnic studies course, photovoice can be a vibrant pedagogical practice and research methodol- ogy, as both seek to amplify critical dialogue and social change (Wang & Burris, 1997). Moreover, a participatory arts- based method, such as photovoice, can be more representative of the a f- fordances of ethnic studies courses than other modes of data col lection because it centers the lens of the student—a lens that has a racialized gaze of the world, par ticularly for students of color. In (re)positioning marginalized students “from the periphery to the core” (Okihiro, 2014, p. 151), photovoice asks young people to respond to photographs that they have taken and elicits multiple openings for their description and explana- tion. In this context, students’ photovoice compositions about ethnic studies offer opportunities to expand our understandings of student literacy in more critical and diverse ways, as elucidated by NLS. Methods Context This research is based on an ethnographic study of an 11th- and 12th- grade elective CLS course offered at a working- class high school in Southern California. The school ref lected the surrounding neighborhood, a pre- dominantly working- class Latinx immigrant communi- ty adjacent to a historical African American community on the north side. According to California Department of Education data, at the time of the study, the school demographics were 85% Latinx, 12% African American, and 3% undisclosed, and 72% of the student body re- ceived free or reduced- price lunch. Approximately 42% of the student body was classified as English learners, with Spanish as the primary language. Because the CLS course was an elective, many of the students enrolled in the class based on the reputation of both the class and the teacher, whereas others were enrolled by their counselors due to a lack of credits. The CLS course com- prised f irst- and second- generation Chicanx students from immigrant households. Curriculum The yearlong CLS class examined notions of colonialism, hegemony, and racism in the United States and how they impact communities of color, particularly Chicanxs and Latinxs. A veteran ethnic studies teacher, Mr. Miranda (all names are pseudony ms), dev ised and taught the course, which met daily for 55 minutes. Figure 1 is an outline of the curricular topics. Upon learning about the dismantling of the Tucson Unif ied School District’s Mexican A merican Studies Program in 2010 and California’s statewide efforts ad- vocating for ethnic studies, students sought to raise awareness and take action. Mr. Miranda facilitated a dialogue by asking students to articulate their under- standings of the course and the perceived impacts that derived from their participation in it. Because of limit- ed school resources, Mr. Miranda felt that a photovoice project was feasible, as it did not require specific soft- ware, and all of the participating students had personal smartphones available to them that were used to take photographs. O ver t he c ou r s e of fou r mont h s , s tudent s u s e d Google Docs to upload images and their accompany- ing two- pa ragraph na r ratives to their teacher each mont h. Student s were i nv ited to t a ke photog raphs that ref lected their understa nd ings of ethn ic stud- ies, t hemselves, a nd t hei r com mu n it ies i n relat ion to colonialism, hegemony, and racism. Each student 18Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 61 No. 1 July/August 2017 literacyworldwide.org FEATURE ARTICLE selected si x pictures, below which they added their w r itten na r ratives descr ibing the photographs a nd their purpose. Students captured photographs of their communities, textbooks, cultural artifacts, clothing, families, friends, and self ies (e.g., youth- curated self- portraits made w ith a smartphone). Throughout the project, students answered the question, “What does ethnic studies mean to you?” w ith photographs and accompanying narratives. A single def inition for eth- nic studies was never demarcated for the students, as it is an academic f ield frequently in f lux and respon- sive to colon ized com mun ities in the Un ited St ates (Okihiro, 2016). The goal of the assignment was to raise awareness to stakeholders about the social exigencies of these literacy courses. Up on s ubm it t i n g t he i r phot o g r aph s , s t ud e nt s worked in small groups using school laptops to discuss their photographs. With their teacher, students revised their writing for clarity and syntax in one- on- one con- ferences during class. Data Collection and Analysis As a Chicana who was raised in the same community a nd for ma l ly t aug ht at the school where th is study took place, trustworthiness was established through prolonged knowledge and engagement with the school community. Data collection included semistructured inter v iews, pa r ticipant obser vations, and students’ photovoice compositions. For this ar ticle, I selected three focal students at the end of the photovoice project to provide information- rich depth into students’ experi- ences with ethnic studies. The students were selected through criterion- based purposive sampling (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) to include a range of linguistic prof i- ciencies, immigration status, grade levels, and length of time in the United States. The perspectives of the three focal students ref lect many of the sentiments of the par- ticipating students at large, including those who did not self- select themselves into the course. NVivo, a qualitative data analysis program, facili- tated the organization of data. Inductive coding began upon my reading of all of the interview transcripts and students’ writings and photographs. Analytic categories emerged from systematic analysis of all forms of data: questioning relationships of power, challenging domi- nant ideologies, and civic engagement. Like Woodgate and Kreklewetz (2012), I used a multilayered- level ana- ly tic coding procedure. The f irst level of analysis in- volved identifying and isolating patterns and content denoted as three domains: individual, community, and structural. In the second level of analysis, I organized these domains through constant comparing and con- trasting and then grouped data together by associa- tions that emphasized social change on all three levels. Finally, the third level of analysis required identifying traits in each domain and then discerning relations across the domains to identify yielding themes of (so- cial) action. I used Morrell’s (2008) description of social action as endeavors that seek to empower oneself and/ or improve one’s community with a social justice orien- tation. The themes that emerged during these coding sessions were woven together to communicate a larger coherent stor y of literacies of social action (Delgado, 2015). Findings The three findings outlined in this section dimensional- ize what ethnic studies meant to the three focal youths and elucidate an overarching narrative of social action: the notion of self- determining one’s future, ethnic studies Figure 1 Curriculum Topics 19Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 61 No. 1 July/August 2017 literacyworldwide.org FEATURE ARTICLE as a practice of community change, and the development of racial literacies that contest structural racism. Self- Determining One’s Trajectory Schools ra rely prov ide ma rg ina l ized students w ith storytelling platforms to assert practices of autonomy and resistance, especia lly w ithin standa rdized a nd Euro- American- centric teaching frameworks (Sleeter, 20 05). For u ndocu ment e d student s, more over, t he inv isibility and educationa l ha rdships that many of them face have been well examined (Gonzales, 2015). As an undocumented 12th- grade student, Beatriz had battled racist notions of worthiness and deservingness throughout her K–12 schooling. Part of her photovoice composition illuminated the ways in which the CLS course had helped her articulate her path in a digni- f ied and humanizing way. As seen in Figure 2, Beatriz shows the statement on a T- shirt that she had attained while enrolled in the course. In response to the photograph, Beatriz wrote, Ethnic Studies is captured in the words of this picture. The message of my t- shirt is clear. We are students of color who will not bow down to the conventions that tie us down. We are people who have exceeded despite not having White or class privilege. We have been empowered by the knowledge gained in and from our communities and in our formal and informal education. Despite what we’ve been told, we de- serve to be here. We have worked hard for our place at the universities we’ve been accepted to. I’ve learned that if we ever question ourselves, we know that it is our success that has brought us this far and our ancestors who had to endure overwhelming hardships for us to be here. T he c a ref u l ly pr o duce d phot og raph , a close- up of her T- sh i r t , i s a s t at ement of Beat r i z’s ident it y. Like her photograph, her words echo a sense of self- determination that counters dominant perspectives of what she, a s a Ch ica na, ha s been told she wou ld become. Her constant use of we is grounded in a sense of communal understanding of self: Her struggle for self- determination is intricately tied to those in her community. In Beatriz’s interview, she shared that she has long battled the “racist voices from media about who undocumented people are…what we can and can’t achieve” (personal communication, April, 22, 2015). For Beatriz, the course fostered literacies that encouraged her to critically make choices based on her values and passions, one of which was f lipping some of the dehu- manizing narratives regarding college- bound undocu- mented students. As seen in Figure 3, Beatriz’s classmate Miriam wrote in response to her own photograph, titled “Non- Selfie,” Figure 2 "Caution: Educated Student of Color" Note. The color figure can be viewed in the online version of this article at http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com. Figure 3 "Non-Selfie" Note. The color figure can be viewed in the online version of this article at http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com. http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com 20Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 61 No. 1 July/August 2017 literacyworldwide.org FEATURE ARTICLE One of the f irst things we learned in CLS was the concept of hegemony and how it hurts ever yone. It creates unfair privileges and also degrades people through discrimina- tion and false stereotypes. Not a lot of people understand its inf luence over them, but it is our job [as youths] to dis- pel these forces, and change people’s point of view through the knowledge and skillsets that we gain through Ethnic Studies courses. It is our job to act, educate and take charge of our future. Miriam recognizes that the work of hegemony is pre- cisely to def ine young people in a way that is harmful. Her photograph features a red balloon with drawn- in features that purposefully covers her face. Although the color red signifies a sense of vigilance, this image cap- tures a dominant sentiment among youths of an overall lack of control. However, Miriam’s narrative speaks back to this representation of hegemony through the power- ful act of agency and self- determination. Concurrently, NLS scholars have highlighted the power of studying literacy practices in the context of the social and ma- terial realities of which they are a part. Thus, Beatriz’s and Miriam’s descriptions underline the significance of taking control over their narratives and exhibit what Zenkov and Harmon (2009) argued, that engaging pho- tovoice as literacy pedagogy often allows youths to write more readily and critically about the issues that matter to them. Community Change Students regularly def ined ethnic studies as promot- i ng a sense of accou nt abi l ity to t hei r com mu n it ies by responding to issues of social and racial injustice. Beatriz expressed that the CLS course led her and her classmates to “develop a sense of urgency to take action” (persona l communication, April 12, 2015). Students’ a c c o u nt a bi l it y t o t h e i r c o m mu n it ie s m a n i fe s t e d th roug h d ivergent approaches; whereas some were pressed to address issues of injustice in their own every- day actions, others addressed systemic injustices, such as raising awareness around state- sanctioned police violence. Humberto discussed the intersectionality of race, class, and gender centralized in the CLS course and how it had changed his perception of the ways that women a re treated in his home and community. His photo- graph, titled “Mujer” (woman), is a close- up picture of a young woman’s side profile. Humberto exaplained it in his accompanying paragraph: This is a woman surrounded by “compliments.” I had never acknowledged how downgrading “catcalling” is for women. Through [CLS], I’ve come to see how real male privilege and sex ism are. In many situations, women wa lk the streets feeling unsafe because of the acts and comments imposed by disrespectful men. As a heterosexual male, I’m priv i- leged and I don’t have to regularly go through this but I am not proud of this privilege since “catcalling” is unaccept- able and no one should have to experience that. This critical awareness is what these courses are all about. In his interview, Humberto discussed that learning about the oppression of women, specif ically Chicanas and Latinas, helped him see the ways in which women’s harassment is multilayered. He continued, “Chicanas have a double oppression or sometimes a triple one. Learning about intersectionality helped me see how I speak [to] and treat women, and how I don’t want to be part of systems that silence or harass them” (interview, April 22, 2015). Humberto articulated a meta- awareness of how he viewed himself as accountable to the wrong- ful subjugation of women. The notion of critical aware- ness and consciousness (Freire, 1970) is central to ethnic studies, as it is the first step toward humanizing litera- cies and social action. Miriam regarded notions of accountability as re- sponding to the numerous unjust killings of unarmed men of color. Upon analyzing the 2014 killing of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in class, students in the CLS class began to see their lives as in- extricably tied with Brown’s and were inspired to raise awareness and take action. At her first Black Lives Matter march with other classmates, Miriam took a picture of the protest sign that she had made (see Figure 4). Miriam elaborated: Ethnic Studies raises our awareness about problems plagu- ing our community, like police brutality. We discussed and learned about the Michael Brown case and other local cases. There was a peace march for the victims of police brutality that I participated in. It was a memorable experience because it was the f irst time I ever did something like this and was empowering because it was among friends. We were there voicing our displeasures and peacefully demanding change in our society. At the end of the peace march we held a vigil for the families of those lost to police violence in our commu- nity. This was an emotional moment for everyone because we were united and bonding over a struggle that our com- munity has been facing for some time. Seeing how my class- mates were involved and actually interested in the things we learned in CLS and taking action (on our own) around those things outside of class, made me believe that even young peo- ple like us can be encouraged to do something that matters and that can care about injustice in the community. Her phot og r aph , a n i nt ent ion a l clos e - up of her poster f rom the ma rch, poignantly notes that she’l l “ P r o b a b l y N e e d T h i s [a g a i n] N e x t Ye a r! ” I n h e r 21Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 61 No. 1 July/August 2017 literacyworldwide.org FEATURE ARTICLE inter v iew, Miriam a f f irmed that she w ill likely con- t i nue to t a ke act ion a rou nd pol ice br ut a l ity i n her community. She stated, “It’s sad that I’ll likely have to recycle this poster, but we can’t help but march” (in- ter v iew, April 22, 2015). Fur thermore, Miriam’s and Humberto’s emerging practices of accountability to- wa rd oppressed members of their community reso- nate with the awareness of power dynamics that NLS emphasizes. Racial Literacies Within the f ield of literacy, Sealey- Ruiz (2013) argued that racial literacy is a vital skill that centers conversa- tions and writing around both the social construction of race and the perilous material realities of racism and moves individuals toward everyday acts of antiracism (Sealey- Ruiz & Greene, 2015). Through Mr. Miranda’s unit, he sought to support students’ racial literacy de- velopment by providing them with tools to not only ar- ticulate structural racial oppression but also ascertain what ethnic studies is and is not. Given the numerous attacks on ethnic studies and the ways that it has falsely been deemed as promoting racial separatism and hate, students aimed to demystify these assertions through their narratives. Beatriz took a picture of a puzzle (see Figure 5). Her accompanying paragraph stated, I had to wait a long time to feel this way—an impact that took nearly 12 years of school to feel this way. It should not be this way. Students of color should have racially empower- ing experiences and be “seen” well before our twelfth grade of school. This is what Ethnic Studies courses have to offer; it gives us the tools and terms to articulate where we stand. We learn to name and understand ourselves in the mix of it all. Life is a puzzle, and having an Ethnic Studies course helps us put the pieces together. Beatriz's photograph, the simple puzzle piece that reads “eye,” isolates the visual metaphor that empha- sizes what ethnic studies means to her. Another meta- phor that she uses through her language is the notion of life as a puzzle. To her, life feels as daunting as a puz- zle; however, according to Beatriz, her ethnic studies course provided her with the critical eye and tools to assemble important pieces. Similarly, Miriam’s writing Figure 4 "Protest Sign" Note. The color figure can be viewed in the online version of this article at http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com. Figure 5 "Life Is a Puzzle" Note. The color figure can be viewed in the online version of this article at http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com. http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com http://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com 22Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 61 No. 1 July/August 2017 literacyworldwide.org FEATURE ARTICLE reverberated through Beatriz’s sentiments about the importance of being seen and heard in school. In re- sponse to a photograph of herself named “Self ie,” she clarified: What we learn is not hatred toward others who have more pr iv i lege tha n us, but rather to have pr ide in our back- grounds, to respect it and to grow from it. With that, we are taught to appreciate other people’s heritages and struggles because just like theirs, we all deserve to be heard and seen. Through Ethnic Studies, we are able to discuss power, race and racism in a productive way for everyone. In Beatriz’s interview, she expanded on her writing and shared, “It’s not about hatred. It’s also not just about learning our histories or reading authors that look like us. It’s about learning the terms to name and challenge systems of power that cause oppression” (inter v iew, April 22, 2015). Comparably, Humberto’s narrative ac- companying his close- up photograph of himself titled “Selfie” highlighted that Ethnic Studies isn’t just learning about people of color’s cul- tures or histories. For a lot of us, we already know about our cultures. It’s about naming our communities’ lived experi- ences as forms of systemic racism and then working to end all forms of oppression. No w m o r e t h a n e v e r, B e at r i z ’s , M i r i a m’s , a n d Humberto’s racial literacies are necessary as vile racism and hate crimes ascend after the 2016 U.S. presidential election (Okeowo, 2016). Moreover, the long- standing school practices of color blindness and race- neutral curricula continue to dehumanize all young people in our school systems. Discussion Inqu i r y t hat hu ma n izes a nd engages ma rg i na l ized students’ historical, cultural, and literacy resources (Mor rel l, 20 08) is cr itica l at a time when a ntiblack, anti- immigrant, and other xenophobic sentiments pro- liferate. New literacies work for Chicanx youths central- izes their literacies as social practice, particularly their literacies of racism, sexism, classism, and migrator y status as central to a humanizing literacy education. Curricular and pedagogical projects aligned with this work accentuate the importance of the incorporation of young people’s lived experiences and decision mak- ing while simultaneously engaging in practices aimed toward academic empowerment. As Delgado (2015) noted, “the subject of racial and ethnic relations is endemic to any serious discuss[ion] of urban youth photovoice” (p. 200). Literacy scholars Zenkov et al. (2012) argued that photovoice as a storytell- ing platform can foster critical thinking skills, empower literate identities, and diversify the process of creating and sharing narratives of (in)justice. Thus, this project invited students’ creativity to read and write their racial- ized social worlds, signifying the urgency for ethnic stud- ies curricula and other forms of race- conscious inquiry in literacy classrooms. Implications E t h n ic s tud ie s c ou r s e s hold s t e ad f a s t pr om i s e i n building more decolonial, equitable, and humanizing visions of schooling, curricula, and literacy develop- ment in the 21st century (de los Ríos, 2016). A hallmark of et h n ic stud ies is t he not ion t hat ever y i nd iv idu- a l i s c apable of sel f- det er m i n i n g a nd sel f- def i n i n g (Umemoto, 1989). Thus, although the creations of mod- el ethnic studies curricula in California are notewor- thy efforts, it is imperative to be cautious of models, as concepts such as self- determination cannot be stan- da rd ized across com mun ities a nd school contex ts. Consequently, educators, regardless of whether one is able to create and implement an ethnic studies course, must continue to shape context- specif ic literacy cur- ricula and pedagogy that are responsive to students’ histories, desires, and divergent relations w ith colo- nialism and racism. TAKE ACTION! 1. Consider the multiple literacies (visual, digital, media, and more) that students already engage in and how they can be leveraged into classroom literacy activities. 2. To incorporate elements of photovoice, provide students with disposable cameras (or encourage the use of students’ smartphones, if available) and ask them to photograph things of significance from their course, school, and/or personal life. 3. Ask students to then select the four to six most significant photographs and write accompanying reflections prompted by their images, whether open- ended or explicitly engaging a prompt question. The goal is for students to engage their personal and academic identities or sociopolitical issues that are most important to them. 4. The aim is to better understand the social and political dimensions of students’ lives. (Delgado, 2015). 23Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 61 No. 1 July/August 2017 literacyworldwide.org FEATURE ARTICLE For teachers and researchers, photovoice as both a pedagogica l and data collection method can ser ve as complementar y sources for transporting the lives a nd concer ns of students to the center of the class- r o o m c u r r i c u lu m ( Z e n k o v & H a r m o n , 2 0 0 9) a n d honor i ng student s’ reser voi rs of k nowledge to fos- ter mea ning f ul w r iting (Zenkov, Taylor, & Ha r mon, 2016). As a profession, we must continue to env isage curricular transformations for a racially diversifying world, especia l ly a s pol it ica l d iscou rses t hat sa nc- tion ever yday forms of gender, ethnic, racial, and re- ligious harassment and violence become increasingly commonplace. In both photovoice and ethnic studies, educators have analytical tools and dialogical frame- works to cultivate modalities of resistance to injustice and oppression. REFERENCES Apple, M.W. (1982). Education and power. Boston, MA: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Buenavista, T.L. (2016). Introduction: The making of a move- ment: Ethnic studies in a K–12 context. In D. Sandoval, A.J. Ratcliff, T.L. Buenavista, & J.R. Marin (Eds.), “White” wash- ing American education: The new culture wars in ethnic stud- ies (pp. vii–xxvii). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger. Cabrera, N.L., Milem, J.F., Jaquette, O., & Marx, R.W. (2014). Missing the (student achievement) forest for all the (politi- cal) trees: Empiricism and the Mexican American studies controversy in Tucson. American Educational Research Journal, 51(6), 1084–1118. doi:10.3102/0002831214553705 Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. Dee, T., & Penner, E. (2016). The causal effects of cultural rel- evance: Evidence from an ethnic studies curriculum (No. 21865). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Delgado, M. (2015). Urban youth and photovoice: Visual ethnog- raphy in action. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. de los Ríos, C.V. (2013). A curriculum of the borderlands: High school Chicana/o- Latina/o studies as sitios y lengua. The Urban Review, 45(1), 58–73. doi:10.1007/s11256- 012- 0224- 3 de los Ríos, C.V. (2016). Writing from La Panza!: Exploring monologue literacies with emergent bilinguals. English Journal, 105(5), 75–80. de los Ríos, C.V., López, J., & Morrell, E. (2015). Toward a criti- cal pedagogy of race: Ethnic studies and literacies of power in high school classrooms. Race and Social Problems, 7(1), 84–96. doi:10.1007/s12552- 014- 9142- 1 Fisher, M.T. (2005). From the coffee house to the school house: The promise and potential of spoken word poetry in schools. English Education, 37(2), 115–131. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M.B. Ramos, Trans.). New York, NY: Continuum. Gee, J.P. (1996). Social linguistic and literacies: Ideology in dis- courses (2nd ed.). Bristol, CT: Taylor & Francis. Gonzales, R. (2015). Lives in limbo: Undocumented and coming of age in America. Berkeley: University of California Press. Hu-DeHart, E. (1993). The history, development, and future of ethnic studies. Phi Delta Kappan, 75(1), 50–54. Johansen, S., & Le, T. (2014). Youth perspective of multicultur- alism using photovoice methodology. Youth & Society, 46(4), 548–565. doi:10.1177/0044118X12443841 Marquez-Zenkov, K., & Harmon, J. (2007). Seeing English in the city: Using photography to understand students’ literacy re- lationships. English Journal, 96(6), 24–30. Morrell, E. (2008). Critical literacy and urban youth: Pedagogies of access, dissent, and liberation. New York, NY: Routledge. Morrell, E., Dueñas, R., García, V., & López, J. (2013). Critical me- dia pedagogy: Teaching for achievement in city schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Muñoz, C. (1989). Youth, identity, power: The Chicano movement. New York, NY: Verso. National Council of Teachers of English. (2015). NCTE position statement in support of ethnic studies initiatives in K–12 cur- ricula. Urbana, IL: Author. Retrieved from http://www.ncte. org/positions/statements/ethnic-studies-k12-curr New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–93. doi:10.17763/haer.66.1.17370n67v22j160u Okeowo, A. (2016, November 17). Hate on the rise after Trump’s election. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http:// w w w.new yorker.com/news/news-desk/hate-on-the-rise- after-trumps-election Okihiro, G.Y. (2014). Margins and mainstreams: Asians in American history and culture (Rev ed.). Seattle: University of Washington Press. Okihiro, G.Y. (2016). Third world studies: Theorizing liberation. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Omi, M., & Winant, H. (1994). Racial formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s. New York, NY: Routledge. San Pedro, T. (2015). Silence as weapons: Transformative praxis among Native Americans in the urban Southwest. Equity & Excellence in Education, 48(4), 511–528. doi:10.1080/1066568 4.2015.1083915 Sealey-Ruiz, Y. (2013). Building racial literacy in first- year compo- sition. Teaching English in the Two- Year College, 40(4), 384–398. Sealey-Ruiz, Y., & Greene, P. (2015). Popular visual images and the (mis)reading of black male youth: A case for racial literacy in urban preservice teacher education. Teaching Education, 26(1), 55–76. doi:10.1080/10476210.2014.997702 Skerrett, A. (2013). Building multiliterate and multilingual writing practices and identities. English Education, 45(4), 322–360. Sleeter, C.E. (2005). Un-standardizing curriculum: Multicultural teaching in the standards-based classroom. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Street, B.V. (1984). Literacy in theory and practice. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Street, B.V. (1995). Social literacies: Critical approaches to lit- eracy in development, ethnography and education. New York, NY: Longman. Takaki, R. (1993). A different mirror: A history of multicultural America. Boston, MA: Back Bay. Trouillot, M.-R. (1995). Silencing the past: Power and the produc- tion of history. Boston, MA: Beacon. Umemoto, K. (1989). “On strike!” San Francisco State College Strike, 1968–1969: The role of Asian American students. Amerasia Journal, 15(1), 3–41. doi:10.17953/ amer.15.1.7213030j5644rx25 https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831214553705 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-012-0224-3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-014-9142-1 https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X12443841 http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/ethnic-studies-k12-curr http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/ethnic-studies-k12-curr https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.66.1.17370n67v22j160u http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/hate-on-the-rise-after-trumps-election http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/hate-on-the-rise-after-trumps-election http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/hate-on-the-rise-after-trumps-election https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2015.1083915 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2015.1083915 https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2014.997702 https://doi.org/10.17953/amer.15.1.7213030j5644rx25 https://doi.org/10.17953/amer.15.1.7213030j5644rx25 24Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 61 No. 1 July/August 2017 literacyworldwide.org FEATURE ARTICLE Van Horn, L. (2008). Reading photographs to write with mean- ing and purpose, grades 4–12. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Vasquez Heilig, J., Brown, K.D., & Brown, A.L. (2012). Illusion of inclusion: A critical race theory textual analysis of race and standards. Harvard Educational Review, 82(3), 403–424. doi:10.17763/haer.82.3.84p8228670j24650 Wang, C., & Burris, M.A. (1997). Photovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assess- ment. Health Education & Behavior, 24(3), 369–387. doi:10.1177/109019819702400309 Weissert, W. (2016, July 18). Textbook reignites Mexican American studies f lap in Texas. Associated Press. Retr ieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/textbook- reignites- mexican-american-studies-f lap-texas-40675565 Woodgate, R.L., & Kreklewetz, C.M. (2012). Youth’s nar- ratives about family members smoking: Parenting the parent—it’s not fair!. BMC Public Health, 12, 965. doi:10.1186/1471- 2458- 12- 965 Zenkov, K., Bell, A., Lynch, M., Ewaida, M., Harmon, J., & Pellegrino, A. (2012). Youth as sources of educational equity: Using photographs to help adolescents make sense of school, injustice, and their lives. Education in a Democracy, 4, 79–98. Zenkov, K., & Harmon, J. (2009). Picturing a writing process: Photovoice and teaching writing to urban youth. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(7), 575–584. doi:10.1598/ JAAL.52.7.3 Zenkov, K., Taylor, L., & Harmon, J. (2016). Boundary- and border- spanning collaborations of educators and youth: Challenging our literacy pedagogies and content. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 59(5), 503–510. doi:10.1002/ jaal.469 MORE TO EXPLORE ■ Hipolito, E., & Zavala, M. (Eds.). (2016). Ethnic studies K–12 [Special issue]. XChange. Retrieved from https://centerx.gseis.ucla.edu/xchange/ ethnic-studies-k-12 ■ Sleeter, C.E. (2011). The academic and social value of ethnic studies: A research review. Washington, DC: National Education Association. ■ Tintiangco-Cubales, A., Kohli, R., Sacramento, J., Henning, N., Agarwal-Rangnath, R., & Sleeter, C. (2015). Toward an ethnic studies pedagogy: Implications for K–12 schools from the research. The Urban Review, 47(1), 104–125. ■ Zenkov, K., & Harmon, K. (2016). Through students’ eyes: Writing and photography for success in school. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Consider Children’s Choices, Teachers’ Choices, and Young Adults’ Choices for curriculum planning and summer reading. ILA Gives You Choices! Looking for a good book? Check out the 2017 Choices Reading Lists—vetted by students and teachers themselves. See all the lists at literacyworldwide.org/choices https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.82.3.84p8228670j24650 https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819702400309 http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/textbook-reignites-mexican-american-studies-flap-texas-40675565 http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/textbook-reignites-mexican-american-studies-flap-texas-40675565 https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-965 https://doi.org/10.1598/JAAL.52.7.3 https://doi.org/10.1598/JAAL.52.7.3 https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.469 https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.469 https://centerx.gseis.ucla.edu/xchange/ethnic-studies-k-12 https://centerx.gseis.ucla.edu/xchange/ethnic-studies-k-12