Washing Away Brokenness: A Narrative Reflection on Emblems of Black Education

Abstract

Objects serve as symbols and emblems that hold stories of family history.This paper uses narrative to investigate the idea and power of emblemsand symbols. It is a socio-historical exploration of a mid-twentieth-century washboard owned by the grandmother of a now 73-year-old Blackmale. Findings in this study unpack socialization stories and reimagineeducational practices of a Black, multi-generational family in the rural American South in the 1950s–1960s by taking a socio-historical approach to understanding family structure, education, and labor. In thispaper, the author argues how Black women, especially Black Grandmothers in the mid-twentieth century, challenged the understanding oflabor and child-rearing and the impact on Black children’s socializationand education.