Many Black, Latinx, multiracial and ethnically diverse, first-generation college students turned PhDs—tie their academic success, achievements, and ability to navigate the difficult terrain of higher education back to the critical experiences and lessons learned in their home lives and through their cultural backgrounds. For them, culture matters. This book offers an opportunity for an anti-deficit and positive examination of (Black, Latinx, and multiracial) culture and its role in creatin...

Explores spoken word poetry as a tool for social justice, critical feminist pedagogy, and new ways of teaching.The writing and performance of spoken word poetry can create moments of productive critical engagement. In The Fifth Element, Crystal Leigh Endsley charts her experience of working with a dynamic and diverse group of college students, who are also emerging artists, to explore the connection between spoken word and social responsibility. She consid...

How girls of color from eight global communities strategize on questions of identity, social issues, and political policy through spoken word poetry.Around the world, girls know how to perform. Grounded in her experience of “putting a mic in the margins” by facilitating workshops for girls in Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, and the United States, scholar/advocate/artist Crystal Leigh Endsley highlights how girls use spoken word poetry to narrate their experiences...

WINNER OF 2018 AERA DIVISION B OUTSTANDING BOOK AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING EDITED COLLECTION IN CURRICULUM STUDIESWhile campuses across the United States have been offering spoken word programs for over 20 years, little attention has been paid to their purpose and impact beyond their contribution to the campus social aesthetic. There is an increasing understanding that performance poetry and spoken word is much more than entertainment. Within disciplines such as English, Ethnic, Women’s, and Cu...