Literacy Research, Racial Consciousness, and Equitable Flows of Knowledge

Abstract

My presidential address focuses on three themes. First, I introduce and trouble the idea of literacy research as white property, drawing on my own research and the history of the Literacy Research Association (LRA) as an organization. Second, I argue that even critically oriented scholarship runs the risk of reproducing power relations it sets out to critique without a reflexive look at segregated flows of knowledge. Third, I present a short video project and organizational storybank that highlights how LRA members are using their research to build equitable flows of knowledge. I argue that LRA has contributed a great deal to educational equity and still has farther to go.