Pro-Black Pedagogies in a Digital Age: Black Students’ Multiliteracies as Intellectual Agency

Abstract This study examined how Black students mobilize multimodal literacies to resist structural and digital antiblackness while asserting joy, humanity, and intellectual agency within higher education. Theoretically grounded in BlackCrit, our analysis examined student-created digital artifacts from two undergraduate courses to understand how pro-Black pedagogical design fosters critical engagement and creative worldmaking. Using a multiple-case embedded design, we analyzed the structural, interactional, and interdiscursive features of students’ digital submissions, including podcasts and multimodal projects, to address issues impacting Black communities. Findings illustrated that when learning environments intentionally center pro-Black frameworks, students can use digital tools to contest curricular erasure, reframe dominant narratives, and imagine justice-oriented interventions. We concluded with recommendations for conceptualizing digital literacy to support educators in creating transformative spaces that nurture genius and expand radical possibilities for Black flourishing in urban educational contexts.