Page 11 - Artistic Representation in Addressing Anti-Black Racism to Change Pedagogy and Practice

Reimagining schooling to better serve African, Afro-Caribbean and Black children and communities depicts the centring and infusing of African, Afro-Caribbean and Black stories, narratives, philosophies and thought as sites of valid knowledge in the reimagining of schooling.
Transformative change will not occur within the education system within the voices of African, Afro-Caribbean and Black learners.
There is an evident Afrofuturistic essence
to this artwork whereby Danilo reimagines
a completely new future of education for African, Afro-Caribbean and Black learners. The centrepiece of this work, a beautiful Black girl full of radiance and grace, has flipped the school upside down and inside out and changed the colour to a glowing pink that emanates from her imagination.
The young Black girl has uprooted the school from societal constructs that can chain her mind and spirit. She has examined it from multiple angles while enveloping it in a transformative sphere that reflects her energy and passions. The school has been unchained from all that binds exclusionary educational values, practices and beliefs.
This artwork depicts the power and genius that is revealed when we listen to the voices of African, Afro-Caribbean and Black children, allowing for changes
to the education system that were once considered unfathomable.
Glimpses of the Invisible Thread are prominent throughout the piece. The spiraling of her hair represents how ancestral knowledge guides her identity and exploration of transformative educational practices. The celebration of her physical appearance highlights the politics of Black hair, the manifestation of cultural identity and the countless ways that Black girls
and women have been at the forefront of societal change.
The halo that encircles the girl includes a tapestry similar to the pattern of the jacket worn by the Black boy in – Repositioning the educator learning from students, family and community (Figure 2). This is meant to depict the connections within the African diaspora and further the prominence of the Invisible Thread.
ARTISTIC REPRESENTATION ADDRESSING ANTI-BLACK RACISM TO CHANGE PEDAGOGY AND PRACTICE 9