ABSTRACT
The literacy practices and communicative repertoires of raciolinguistically and ethnolinguistically minoritized students, families, and communities have historically been devalued and marginalized by dominant Eurocentric conceptualizations of language and literacy in schools and schooling. Inferiority and cultural deficit paradigms have historically informed and continue to inform the discourse of risk visible in the unmarked racialization of the languages and literacies of power, which are determined by those in power. Urban literacies are the literacy practices of reading, writing, and beyond that uplift, connect, and illuminate what students bring to school or use out of school that may go unnoticed unless teachers purposefully and intentionally search, appreciate, and incorporate them into educative and community practices. Urban literacies are predicated on the recognition that children and youth enter education settings with a wealth of experiences and expertise, emanating from families and communities.
