The focus of this article is a qualitative description of the narrated life experiences of 11 African American intellectual-activists with regard to three major vehicles of overt expressions of Blackness; hair, clothing, and names. The voices of the informants are used to illustrate the importance of these expressions. Because each of the informants is involved with African American educational institutions in urban settings, the impact of their chosen expressions of Blackness on urban schools is also discussed.
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