You Don't Just Stay in One Place: The Intergenerational Pedagogy of Two African American Families in the South

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This postcritical ethnography shares the intergenerational stories of the Jordan and Cooper families, two African American families living in Parrish City, a medium sized city in the southeastern United States. In this study I explore the Cooper and Jordan family narratives across three generations to understand the varied histories of schooling, education, segregation, and desegregation that are embodied in the stories they share. While the experiences of the Cooper and Jordan families are unique, they also reflect patterns of race and family-school dynamics evident in our culture and society. Their stories describe an intergenerational family pedagogy defined as the moves, choices, and messages shared across generations to support the educational and social mobility of their children and grandchildren. This pedagogy enabled the families to navigate de jure and de facto segregated communities in hopes for a better future for themselves , their children, and the generations to follow. The family stories not only counter deficit portrayals of the segregated Black communities of the past, but also provide a critique of contemporary schooling. Through thematic interpretations and the conceptual framework of Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso,2005), I argue that the family narratives illustrate a strong cultural capital evident though an intergenerational family pedagogy, which has persisted through generations.

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