Framing Black feminist pedagogy through the contours of Black feminist thought: Black feminist praxis in and beyond the traditional classroom

Marked by the tireless labour and contributions of Black women, the Black feminist tradition has significantly influenced the field and practice of education, broadly conceived, in which pedagogy plays a vital part. Little scholarship, however, has explored the relationship between Black feminist thought's knowledge validation process and Black feminist pedagogy. This conceptual paper addresses that gap, using the contours of Black feminist thought to structure Black feminist pedagogy. Two primary questions are explored: 1) In which ways are Black feminist thought and Black feminist pedagogy compatible? and 2) How can Black feminist thought's contours serve as a framework for analysing practices of Black feminist pedagogy? Illustrating how the contours of Black feminist thought help operationalise Black feminist pedagogy, the paper draws on diverse cultural examples from politics, religion, higher education, and public media to demonstrate that Black feminist thought and Black feminist pedagogy are deeply compatible and that their merger represents one form of Black feminist praxis. This paper contributes to scholarship seeking to uplift the work of Black women through critical appraisals of their labour and that which seeks to further Black feminist theories and practices in the interest of intersectional racial justice.