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African (to) American Literacies: Exploring Marginalized Literacy Histories of Enslaved People in the United States.

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Title: African (to) American Literacies: Exploring Marginalized Literacy Histories of Enslaved People in the United States.
Authors: DeJulio, Samuel1 (AUTHOR) samuel.dejulio@utsa.edu
Source: Reading Research Quarterly (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). Oct-Dec2025, Vol. 60 Issue 4, p1-22. 22p.
Subject Terms: *Literacy, Historical literacy, Critical race theory, Enslaved persons, Drum set, Symbolic interactionism
Geographic Terms: Calabar (Nigeria), Africa, Central Africa, United States
Abstract: The literacy history of Black US‐Americans is often recounted beginning with furtive literacy learning during enslavement. The majoritarian narrative is that enslaved people from Africa came from societies without a writing system. In this study, the author draws on Critical Race Theory and a New Literacy Studies‐Multimodal Perspective to counter this deficit narrative that dismisses the rich literacy history of Black US‐Americans. The author offers the examples of three literacies that were practiced in areas of West and Central Africa, where people were enslaved and taken to the US before 1808. One of these systems, Talking Drums, is a semiotic system in which meaning is conveyed through drum sounds. The second, Nsibidi, is an ideographic system of communication invented in Africa that has been used in the Calabar region of Africa for centuries. Finally, Ajami is a writing system adapted from the Arabic script that is practiced among a variety of ethnic groups throughout Africa. These literacies are evidence that many enslaved people belonged to communities in which literacies were being practiced prior to and throughout the time during which the Atlantic Slave Trade occurred. The author calls on readers to recognize the presence of these literacies and include them in the narrative of Black US‐American literacy history. The literacy history of Black US‐Americans is often recounted beginning with furtive literacy learning during enslavement. The majoritarian narrative is that enslaved people from Africa came from societies without a writing system. In this study, the author draws on Critical Race Theory and a New Literacy Studies‐Multimodal Perspective to counter this deficit narrative that dismisses the rich literacy history of Black‐US Americans. The author offers the examples of three literacies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Reading Research Quarterly (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: African (to) American Literacies: Exploring Marginalized Literacy Histories of Enslaved People in the United States.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22DeJulio%2C+Samuel%22">DeJulio, Samuel</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> samuel.dejulio@utsa.edu</i>
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Literacy%22">Literacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Historical+literacy%22">Historical literacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Critical+race+theory%22">Critical race theory</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Enslaved+persons%22">Enslaved persons</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Drum+set%22">Drum set</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Symbolic+interactionism%22">Symbolic interactionism</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Calabar+%28Nigeria%29%22">Calabar (Nigeria)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Africa%22">Africa</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Central+Africa%22">Central Africa</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+States%22">United States</searchLink>
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  Data: The literacy history of Black US‐Americans is often recounted beginning with furtive literacy learning during enslavement. The majoritarian narrative is that enslaved people from Africa came from societies without a writing system. In this study, the author draws on Critical Race Theory and a New Literacy Studies‐Multimodal Perspective to counter this deficit narrative that dismisses the rich literacy history of Black US‐Americans. The author offers the examples of three literacies that were practiced in areas of West and Central Africa, where people were enslaved and taken to the US before 1808. One of these systems, Talking Drums, is a semiotic system in which meaning is conveyed through drum sounds. The second, Nsibidi, is an ideographic system of communication invented in Africa that has been used in the Calabar region of Africa for centuries. Finally, Ajami is a writing system adapted from the Arabic script that is practiced among a variety of ethnic groups throughout Africa. These literacies are evidence that many enslaved people belonged to communities in which literacies were being practiced prior to and throughout the time during which the Atlantic Slave Trade occurred. The author calls on readers to recognize the presence of these literacies and include them in the narrative of Black US‐American literacy history. The literacy history of Black US‐Americans is often recounted beginning with furtive literacy learning during enslavement. The majoritarian narrative is that enslaved people from Africa came from societies without a writing system. In this study, the author draws on Critical Race Theory and a New Literacy Studies‐Multimodal Perspective to counter this deficit narrative that dismisses the rich literacy history of Black‐US Americans. The author offers the examples of three literacies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Reading Research Quarterly (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1002/rrq.70049
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 22
        StartPage: 1
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Literacy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Historical literacy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Critical race theory
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Enslaved persons
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Drum set
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Symbolic interactionism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Calabar (Nigeria)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Africa
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Central Africa
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: United States
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: African (to) American Literacies: Exploring Marginalized Literacy Histories of Enslaved People in the United States.
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            – D: 01
              M: 10
              Text: Oct-Dec2025
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              Y: 2025
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