ABSTRACT
Classrooms are not spaces in which Black girlhood has typically had room to thrive. As such, Black girls have sought and created alternative spaces to express their innermost thoughts and desires. In this chapter, Dr. Womack highlights the lives and literacies of Black girls in what she refers to as out-of-bound spaces, or individually and collectively constructed spaces, that offer a sense of belonging, bonding, safety, seclusion, and interconnectedness with and for Black girls. Dr. Womack draws from her two-year study in a co-constructed out-of-bound space to address these questions: How does the notion of out-of-bound space figure into the lives of Black girls? and, How do Black girls “do” literacy in such spaces? Findings reveal that Black girls seek out-of-bound spaces to share and be in communion with other Black girls and to actively engage in literacy practices that encourage them to ascribe meaning to their own lives.
