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Larissa Malone

Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Foundations of Education, University of North Carolina, Wilmington
Chapter Member: North Carolina SSN
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About Larissa

Malone's research centers on the minoritized experience in schooling. Overarching themes in Malone's writing rests at the intersection of schooling, race and racism, and tangential disciplines, such as faith, geography, identity development, and parenting. Malone is the founder of Maine Black Educators Collective, an organization that supports Black educators in the state of Maine through educational opportunities, social-emotional connection, and advocacy. She consults with and serves on the board of various educational non-profits. She was the 2022 recipient of the Maine Education Association's Human and Civil Rights Award for her contribution to school success in this area.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Silence Is Complicity – On (Not) Teaching Black History in Maine

Commentary,

In the News

Interview on her experience as a faculty member at the University of Southern Maine Larissa Malone (with Kiva Wright-Berry, Keith Danner, and Michelle Vazquez-Jacobus), WMPG, March 30, 2023.
Larissa Malone's research on awareness of racism in Maine discussed by Stephanie Harp, "Racism in Maine: Equity Progressing, but Slowly," Amjambo Africa, May 1, 2022.

Publications

"“The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations”: Perceptions of Teacher Expectations Among Black Families in a Suburban School" (with Vilma Seeberg and Xiaoqi Yu). Educational Studies 59, no. 3 (2023).

Explored the experiences within a school district where diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts have been ongoing. Found that there was an existence of a racial hierarchy and an anti-Black ideation and implications include the need for educators to raise awareness and the need to counter individual actions and institutional racialized structures.

"FaithCrit: Toward a Framework of Religio-Spirituality in Critical Race Theory" (with Qiana Lachaud). Journal of Critical Race Inquiry (2022).

The central tenets of an emerging theory, FaithCrit, are outlined to provide a framework that calls on the consideration of religio-spiritual identity. Rooted in Critical Race Theory, this article brings to light the existant underpinnings within the CRT movement to address the complementary nature of spiritual truths and social justice. A compelling case is made for the inclusion of faith in scholarship.

"Saying the Quiet Part Loud: Revisiting Derrick Bell’s Alternative Brown v. Board Scenario in a Post-Pandemic World" Journal of Negro Education 91, no. 3 (2022): 273-284.

Revisits Derrick Bell’s chapter Brown Reconceived: An Alternative Scenario and its relevancy to a post-pandemic context.

"Testimonials of Exodus: Self-Emancipation in Higher Education through the Power of Womanism" (with Jean Swindle), in We're Not OK: Black Faculty Experiences and Higher Education Strategies, edited by Antija M. Allen & Justin T. Stewart (Cambridge University Press, 2022), 147-168.

Chronicles the self-emancipatory journey of two Black female scholars from small, predominantly White liberal institutions in the American Midwest, through narrative inquiry, and by employing an Africana womanist lens. 

"There Goes the Neighborhood: Intra-District Integration and Its Implications on Black Community" in Countering the Mythology of Inclusion, edited by Theresa Anne Fowler (Dio Press, 2022).

Discusses the consequences of educational gerrymandering, the practice of dividing territorial boundaries in a school district in order to design a particular outcome. Highlights a school district's decision to increase racial integration through this practice. Utilizing critical race spacial analysis, the effects on the Black sub-community, geographically and socially, are explored.

"Equity 911: Framing Educational Equity as a National Emergency" Success in High-Need Schools Journal 20, no. 1 (2020): 23-33.

Considers equity as a crisis faced in classrooms across America. As such, an emergency framework is utilized to propose an approach that is apropos to the intense urgency a crisis requires. Concludes that the level of inequity currently allowed in the field of education must be honestly assessed and a comprehensive plan that engages stake-holders must be realized.

"Moving on Up: Urban to Suburban Translocation Experiences of High-Achieving Black American Students" (with Xiaoqi Yu and Vilma Seeberg). Education and Urban Society 49, no. 9 (2016).

Departing from the all too common deficit orientation toward Black student academic performance, this article focuses on how families and students negotiate the challenges and opportunities in a school district. Reveals how dual identity consciousness combined with a strong achievement orientation and adaptive strategies facilitated acculturation.