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Jana Johnson-Davis, Ph.D. is a 2024 graduate of the PHD Program in Leadership and Change at Antioch University.

Jana Johnson-Davis at her Dissertation Defense.

From L-R: Dr. Nancy Boxill, Committee Chair, Dr. Michael Simanga, Committee Member, Dr. Betty Overton, Committee Member

Dissertation Committee

  • Nancy Boxill, PhD, Committee Chair
  • Michael Simanga, PhD, Committee Member
  • Betty Overton, PhD, Committee Member

Keywords

homeplace, bell hooks, adolescent Black girls, White middle school, marginalization

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

Adolescent Black girls often experience marginalization in schools due to zero-tolerance policies, oppressive classroom curricula, and teachers who lack cultural competency. The literature on adolescent Black girls in school revealed that there are spaces within schools that can serve as homeplaces for Black girls. This study explored how adolescent Black girls experienced homeplace in an afterschool club at a predominantly White middle school in Decatur, Georgia. This research also expands bell hooks’s (2001) theory of homeplace from the home environment to school buildings. Narrative inquiry was the methodology used for the study, and interview data was analyzed through thematic analysis. Black feminist thought served as the theoretical lens. The findings revealed that during their participation in the afterschool club, the study’s participants experienced homeplace through: (a) a sense of belonging, (b) experiences that provided them the opportunity to grow and develop, and (c) access to caring Black women who facilitated a safe space that the girls needed. Recommendations for school policy and practice that may reduce the marginalization of Black girls and increase access to homeplaces inside schools are included. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

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Jana Johnson-Davis

ORCID: #0009-0007-46308843

Jana L. Johnson-Davis is a dedicated activist-educator, who is currently serving her second term as a school board member in Decatur, Georgia. With a robust background in education and advocacy, Jana has committed over 14 years as a special education teacher, focusing on students who have traditionally been marginalized in school. Her passion for empowering young minds extends to her previous role as a co-sponsor of a middle school girls' club, whose membership comprised African American girls and girls from the local African immigrant community.

Jana holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change from Antioch University, a Master of Arts in Urban Education from Goddard College, an Education Specialist degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Piedmont College, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Florida A&M University.

Among her many accolades, Jana has received the Outstanding Georgia Citizen Award from the State of Georgia, the Nikki T. Randall Servant Leader Award from the Women’s Caucus of the Georgia House of Representatives, the DeKalb Volunteer Lawyer’s Foundation Good Citizen Award, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.’s Phyllis Thomas Blake Excellence in Civic Engagement Award, and the 2024 Gideon’s Promise Community Impact Award.

Her professional goal is to elevate the experiences of Black girls in schools and to educate school systems, educational policy leaders, educators, and parents on the critical need for Black girls to have access to a supportive and affirming “homeplace” within educational settings.

In addition to her professional endeavors, Jana is a co-founder of the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, the organization that played a key role in the movement to successfully remove the Confederate Monument from the Decatur Square. Jana was also a primary organizer of the Georgia Coalition 2 Save Lives, where she led the Loved Ones, Not Numbers campaign to humanize Georgia’s COVID-19 victims and organized protests that advocated for increased police accountability.

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