The historical and contemporary concerns about race, racism, anti-Blackness suggest the vital need for Blackness to be centered in the English Language Arts classroom, (ELA). This study reveals what can happen when a Black teacher-researcher and teacher collaborate to create a classroom environment where Blackness took precedence. In particular, I center students' voices about their perceptions of and attitudes about the experience of being Black youth. This knowledge led me to construct a continuum that ranged from Racial hope to Racial suffering, which underscored the importance of a Black teacher who created a learning space that valued the students' consciousness raising, knowledge, and sensibilities. Based on the acknowledgment of the students' needs, a Black space (Paris, 2017) was carved out. Within that Black space, we, as two Black women teachers, sought to create a justice-oriented pedagogical mutuality (JOPM) dedicated to sustaining our students culturally, linguistically, and racially. Our commitments, joy, and love fueled their resistance against hegemonic anti-Black practices and determination to inspire their Black students to engage in justice-oriented learning mutuality (JOLM). In doing so, the students drew on their multiple languages and literacies in their speech and writing to represent their racial and ethnic identities and to engage in opportunities to engage in critical conversations and literacy learning about race, racism, Blackness, and anti-Blackness.
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