For decades, schools in the United States were organized largely by race, a practice enshrined into the law in the southern region of the country. Because the United States, like many other countries, has historically pivoted on white supremacist, antiBlack ideologies, the history of this educational policy has underlined the salience of race. That is, with few exceptions, the implementation of school desegregation has been studied by historians as a racial issue that had little relationship to gender or socioeconomic status. As a result, the experiences of Black students in these narratives have largely been lumped together, obscuring how the experiences of different Black social groups unfolded in this context. There is much to learn, I contend, from the Black students who desegregated about this era and their experiences throughout it, particularly from Black girls. Drawing on original oral history interviews and extensive archival research, this paper considered which Black girls became homecoming nominees, homecoming queens, cheerleaders, pregnant students, and young mothers across the 1970s in majority-white, desegregating schools in Texas. I highlight the marked determination of Black girls in newly desegregated schools, asserting that Black girls were visionaries who expanded white notions of femininity and capability. This project demonstrates how Black girls employed tenacity to achieve their goals and audacity in believing they could hold titles routinely reserved for their white girl counterparts. Through their actions, I show that Black girls possessed a visionary prowess that stood to redefine and expand traditional, white notions of femininity and capability, making their new schools, the South, and the nation more inclusive and representative of their dynamic experiences. Few roles connote femininity or provide a window into the transition from girlhood into womanhood as do these, and the racialized-gender dimensions of Black girls’ experiences highlight extraordinary acts of bravery, audacity, and tenacity. To understand these topics, I examine their extracurricular activity and transition into parenthood as sites of cultural innovation. I feature seven Black girls and begin by discussing their primary school years, subsequently moving on to their junior high and high school days. This chronology underlines ostensibly middle-class Black girls’ preparation for and disposition toward the cheerleader and homecoming queen role; in tandem, I analyze how some working-class Black girls, who became pregnant and young mothers, proved unable to access those roles, yet met all requirements to graduate on time with their respective classes. Such a lens acknowledges the different pathways Black girls created to achieve at high levels as they deemed appropriate. The project also examines their proximity to hegemonic femininity to help establish the standard against which Black girls were judged and the hurdles they had to clear for acceptance and success on their terms.

Throughout all editions of newspapers from the black press in São Paulo, a predominant element on the pages of the newspapers were the celebrations reminiscent of May 13th. Exalted as an important date for black people at the beginning of the 20th century, it brought with it the discussion of the emancipatory movement that ended with this law, in addition to always being associated with discussions about the redefinition of the concept of race among black people in Brazilian society, their relationships with the continent of origin, Africa, and the creation of symbols, such as the monument of Mãe Preta, that materialized the memory of the date. In 1925, for example, the newspaper “O Clarim da Alvorada” was quite combative and incisive in defending black people and the celebration of the Thirteenth of May.

Ao longo de todas as edições dos jornais da imprensa negra paulistana, um elemento predominante pelas páginas dos jornais foram as comemorações reminiscentes acercado dia 13 de maio. Exaltada como data importante para os negros do início do século XX, trazia em seu bojo a discussão do movimento emancipatório finalizado com esta lei, além de sempre ser associada às discussões acerca da redefinição do conceito de raça entre os negros da sociedade brasileira, suas relações com o continente de origem, a África, e a criação de símbolos, como o monumento da Mãe Preta, que materializassem a lembrança da data. Em 1925, por exemplo, o jornal “O Clarim da Alvorada” é bastante combativo e incisivo na defesa dos negros e da comemoração do Treze de maio.