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I chose the chapter titled, "Storytelling as Resistance" for two reasons, both related to my work with the Undocumented, First-generation College, and Low-income student population. First, one of my student staff coordinators has an independent major in "Storytelling Narratives" and I wanted to be read more on storytelling as a resistance practice. Second, the programming I do with my students is heavily based on the Community Cultural Wealth framework that this chapter discusses and I was curious to learn what activity/lesson plan Jerica Coffey did with her students.
Community Cultural Wealth is a concept by Chicana scholar, Tara Yosso, that focuses on the cultural capital that communities of color possess that are usually unrecognized and undervalued. Basically, the model recognizes their lived experiences as an asset.
The types of cultural capital are:
Aspirational: The ability to maintain dreams even in the midst of challenges
Linguistic: The intellectual/social skills from communication experiences in different languages/styles
Familial: The cultural knowledges nurtured among kin
Social: The networks of people and community resources
Navigational: The skills in maneuvering through social institutions
Resistant: The skills/knowledge fostered through oppositional behavior that challenges inequality
We have so many different forms of capital that we may not even realize because it is simply how we live in this world, it is a part of us. As products of our cultures, communities, and experiences, our knowledge is uniquely valuable. It is important to recognize, affirm and draw on these forms of wealth for both individual needs, collective work and community prosperity.
Coffey began the lesson on Community Cultural Wealth with a schema building discussion around what it means to have money and what words are often associated with money. Students said words like "wealth," "power," "status, "respect," etc. Then she asked if there are other things that can also give you status, respect, power, etc. to which students responded with "your looks or your family background" and "who you hang out with." Coffey said “In our community, even though we don’t have a lot of wealth in terms of money, we have other kinds of wealth that help us survive.” The class came up with a list of other kinds of wealth and THEN Coffey introduced Yosso's theory of Community Cultural Wealth.
Coffey incorporated the framework into the unit's final assessment which involved researching, documenting, and analyzing the untold histories of people in their community. To help the students develop questions for the interviews they would conduct, she hung up the definition for each form of Community Cultural Wealth around the room and had students move to each poster and design questions that could help them understand what role each one played in a person's life. She also supported students in identifying the focus or theme of the stories they would craft before they began writing their narratives. As the stories were to be written in first person, Coffey had the students frequently check with the interviewees to ensure they have authentically captured the story.
The work of the students in shifting away from deficit language and instead honoring the stories and experiences of members of the community was a powerful way to define what stories matter and how those stories get told.
Coffey ends with, "My students pursued learning to uplift their community, honor the stories of their elders, and give voice to powerful lessons about community strength and survival."
Here is a link to a Yosso article about Community Cultural Wealth if you're interested in bringing this framework into your work as an educator: https://thrive.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/Whose%20culture%20has%20capital_A%20critical%20race%20theory%20discussion%20of%20community%20cultural%20wealth_1.pdf
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