Beyond Kente Cloth and Kwanzaa: Interrogating African-Centered Identity in Washington, D.C.

Kente cloth, the brightly-colored, traditional woven cloth from Ghana, West Africa, has come to symbolize a marker of African identity when worn by African Americans. Similarly, the seven-day cultural celebration of Kwanzaa has become a popular way for some African Americans to commemorate their connection to African cultural customs. Yet, beyond these symbols of cultural identification, my research examines how communities of African Americans understand and express their sense of connection to Africa and how it is they attach significance to that connection. The site for this research is Community Charter School (CCS), an African-centered charter school in Washington, D.C., an auspicious site for examining issues of Black identity, due to its historical significance as a location of Black activism, mobility, and cultural expression. Yet, my focus is less on pedagogy and more on how the various constituents within the school assign value to it as an African centered space. Within this school space, three distinct constituencies emerge: minority educators, majority educators, and youth, who hold varying views on the salience of the school's African-centered approach and its significance for African American families and youth. My study amplifies the multi-vocality around Black identity that exists in school spaces, even those that are founded upon a notion of solidarity among people of African descent. Moreover, my findings also demonstrate how neoliberal discourse, as exemplified by No Child Left Behind (NCLB), confounds schools and amplifies tensions around class, competition, and Black belonging. While African-centered schools exist, in part, to counter notions of hegemony, individuals within these communities often reflect the race, gender, and class normativity existent within mainstream society. This study invites a more nuanced interrogation of African-centered communities and also demonstrates the utility of single sited research in capturing the rich variability of the African Diasporic experience in a globalized world.