Table Of ContentUniversity of Tennessee, Knoxville
Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative
Exchange
Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School
8-2015
Defcit Discourse, Literate Lives: Success
Narratives of Black Youth
Ann Marie Bennet
University of Tennessee - Knoxville,
To the Graduate Council:
I am submiting herewith a dissertation writen by Ann Marie Bennet entitled "Defcit Discourse,
Literate Lives: Success Narratives of Black Youth." I have examined the fnal electronic copy of this
dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfllment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Education.
Richard L. Allington, Major Professor
We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance:
Anne McGill-Franzen, Stergios Botzakis, Jennifer Morrow, Judson Laughter
Accepted for the Council:
Dixie L. Tompson
Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School
(Original signatures are on fle with ofcial student records.)
Deficit Discourse, Literate Lives: Success Narratives of Black Youth
A Dissertation Presented for the
Doctor of Philosophy
Degree
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Ann Marie Bennett
August 2015
ii
Copyright © 2015 by Ann M. Bennett
All rights reserved.
iii
“The freedom promised by literacy is both freedom from - from ignorance, oppression,
poverty - and freedom to - to do new things, to make choices, to learn.”
Koïchiro Matsuura, 2001
iv
Dedication
This dissertation is dedicated to all the Black men, women, and children who lost their
lives due to racist violence. Below is a list of some of the individuals who have passed
since I began my doctoral journey. We can never forget that Black lives matter.
Kenneth Harding. July 16, 2011. Ervin Edwards. November 26, 2013.
Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr. November 19, 2011. Jordan Baker. January 16, 2014.
Ramarley Graham. February 2, 2012. Ernest Satterwhite. February 9, 2014.
Sgt. Manuel Loggins, Jr. February 7, 2012. Yvette Smith. February 16, 2014.
Trayvon Martin. February 26, 2012. Victor White III. March 3, 2014.
Dante Price. March 1, 2012. Dontre Hamilton. April 30, 2014.
Wendell Allen. March 7, 2012. Jason Harrison. June 14, 2014.
Shereese Francis. March 15, 2012. Eric Garner. July 17, 2014.
Rekia Boyd. March 21, 2012. John Crawford III. August 5, 2014.
Kendrec McDade. March 24, 2012. Michael Brown. August 9, 2014.
Tamon Robinson. April 18, 2012. Ezell Ford. August 11, 2014.
Sharmel Edwards. April 21, 2012. Dante Parker. August 12, 2014.
Darius Simmons. May 31, 2012. Kajieme Powell. August 19, 2014.
Alesia Thomas. July 22, 2012. Darrien Hunt. September 20, 2014.
Reynaldo Cuevas. September 7, 2012. Laquan McDonald. October 20, 2014.
Jordan Davis. November 23, 2012. Tanisha Anderson. November 13, 2014.
Kimani Gray. March 9, 2013. Akai Gurley. November 20, 2014.
Deion Fludd. July 12, 2013. Tamir Rice. November 23, 2014.
Larry Jackson, Jr. July 26, 2013. Rumain Brisbon. December 2, 2014.
Carlos Alcis. August 15, 2013. Tony Robinson. March 6, 2015.
Jonathan Ferrell. September 14, 2013. Anthony Hill. March 9, 2015.
Miriam Carey. October 2, 2013. Eric Harris. April 2, 2015.
Andy Lopez. October 22, 2013. Walter Scott. April 4, 2015.
Renisha McBride. November 2, 2013. Freddie Gray. April 19, 2015.
v
Acknowledgements
My entire dissertation journey has been mired by what seemed like every possible
worst case scenario a graduate student can imagine. However, I have found people to
rely on and ways to escape in order to survive this arduous process.
First, I would thank to thank Dr. Judson Laughter for answering every email I
ever sent…even the ones written in tears. I do not think I could have maintained my
sanity without you. Second, I would like to thank Dr. Richard Allington for reading and
evaluating nine drafts of this dissertation before it entered its final form. I know you are
a busy dude with important stuff to do, and 183 pages is a lot of reading. I would also
like to thank Dr. Stergios Botzakis for stepping up as “team leader” when circumstances
called for it and repeatedly finding typos in every draft I submitted. A thank you is owed
to Dr. Jennifer Morrow for her support and defense of this dissertation even though this
was the first time she had supervised a dissertation using this methodology. Dr. Morrow
is owed an additional thank you for all of the teaching and grant experience she bestowed
upon me throughout my graduate career, in addition to making me a well-rounded
researcher. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Anne McGill-Franzen for her advice and
critical questions that shaped the methodological piece of this dissertation.
I would also like thank the children who participated in this study. I know you
guys were so tired of Miss Ann asking you “are you done, yet?”, but we pulled through
this together, and we are an awesome team. As promised, if Miss Ann writes a New
York Times Bestseller, you are all getting a trust fund for your college tuition, but please
do remember that the chances of that are slim. I must also thank the Dove Center and all
vi
of the kids who attended their summer and after-school programs. You guys inspired the
topic of this dissertation, and, without you, Dr. Allington would not have had 183 pages
to read.
Without some form of escape from this process, I probably would have wallowed
in a depressive state. Having said that, I would like to thank Beth Comstock and Jason
Kilar of Hulu, Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph of Netflix, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon
for keeping me entertained (and aiding in my procrastination) when I desperately needed
a break from this dissertation. One can only write for so long before an episode of
Doctor Who is needed. Speaking of Doctor Who, I would like to thank Russell T. Davies
and Steven Moffat for rebooting the greatest television show known to man and
reminding me that “every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things
don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don’t always spoil the
good things and make them unimportant”. Since we are on the topic of nerddom, I
cannot forget to thank J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, without whom I
would have never cared about reading, at all. J.K. Rowling also reminded me that
“happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on
the light”.
I also wish to thank Barkley who was my number one boy and old man. You
were the greatest dog ever, and we spent 15 wonderful years together with three of those
years occurring while I worked on my Ph.D. You were patient with me when I forgot to
fill your food bowl or did not notice that you needed to go outside, because I was
vii
working. You snuggled with me the nights I cried, because the stress was too much, and
I snuggled with you as you took your last breath. You will never be forgotten.
I would also like to thank Professor Charles Xavier the Pibble who has provided
me with companionship through these final drafts of my dissertation…even if you did
pee on the floor while I was trying to work.
Finally, this acknowledgement section would not be complete without thanking
my best friend, Hollie Nawrocki. Hollie, you are the Companion to my Doctor, the Ron
to my Harry, the Number One to my Captain, the Magneto to my Professor Charles
Xavier (the later years), the Wash to my Captain Mal, the Sam to my Dean, the John to
my Sherlock, and the Tara to my Sookie. Without you, there would be nothing. Never
forget that we are not just twice as good. We are even better than that.
viii
Abstract
The current dialogue surrounding Black youth portrays these youth as “thugs”
who come from “broken” families and “apathetic” communities. Even some educational
discourses portray Black youth as “at-risk” students who lack the resources necessary to
achieve in school. These dialogues traffic in deficit language without paying attention to
the successes found in the Black community. The purpose of this study was to utilize an
anti-deficit perspective to capture the stories of how urban Black children in a mid-sized
Southeastern city are achieving positive literacy and academic outcomes in the upper
elementary and middle grades. I sought to understand how Black youth perceive and
portray their academic and literacy achievement in the face of widespread deficit
perspectives. Using photovoice and an experimental ethnographic design, I allowed my
participants to become co-researchers and aid in documenting their own stories. Through
photographs, interviews, and a group discussion, the stories the children told revealed
that the children rely on themselves, as well as their families, schools, faith, and
community in order to achieve success. Their stories are presented as a visual
counternarrative and seek to challenge the dominant deficit discourses about them. The
hope is that, based on this study, educational researchers (re)consider their approach to
research in the Black community and place power back in the hands of those who own
the story.
