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But I’m not Black, I’m West Indian

Afro-Caribbean Literacies of Language, Color, and Migration

Join us for A Juneteenth and Caribbean History discussion on the literary experiences of Afro-Caribbean immigrants in the United States. Presented by Dr. Patriann Smith

In this presentation, Dr. Patriann Smith shares insights from the literacy experiences of Afro-Caribbean youth and adults about how they wrestled with race, language, and immigration in the United States. Based on these insights, Dr. Smith describes how the experiences of Afro-Caribbean immigrants position them to contribute significantly to literacy education, on both the national and international landscape.

Dr. Patriann Smith is a tenured Associate Professor in Literacy Studies at the University of South Florida. Dr. Smith earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Literacy Studies and a concentration in Multilingual Education at the University of South Florida. Patriann's transdisciplinary research agenda focuses on the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic challenges faced by Black immigrants in literacy instruction, assessment, and multicultural teacher education. She examines how differences in Englishes and English language ideologies affect Black Caribbean immigrant literacy practices as they cross cultures and languages between their home countries and the United States. Through her transdisciplinary scholarship, Dr. Smith has proposed ‘a transraciolinguistic approach’ to explain how standardized English, non-standardized English, and the language ideologies that inform the use of these Englishes, both challenge and create affordances for cross-cultural and cross-linguistic literacy instruction. She has also proposed the framework for ‘Black immigrant literacies’ to clarify the elements involved in Black youth literacies as their (trans)languaging is (trans)racialized across borders.

Dr. Smith has published over 70 articles and book chapters in journals such as the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ), Reading Research Quarterly (RRQ), Teachers College Record (TCR), Journal of Education and Development in the Caribbean (JEDIC) and International Multilingual Research Journal (IMRJ). She continues to extend her research by comparing insights about Black immigrant Englishes and Black immigrant literacy practices in international literacy assessment and transcultural teacher education to that of other native Black populations in the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean. An overview of Dr. Smith’s research is available on Google Scholar, ResearchGate and Academia. Her description of a transraciolinguistic approach is available in the voiced Radio podcast. Dr. Smith currently serves as an elected member of the Board of Directors of the Literacy Research Association and as co-PI of the $3.6 million USAID funded Caribbean Educational Research Initiative.

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