Understanding Black Girlhood Through Cultural Expression

Rutgers–Camden’s inaugural Mellon Humanities postdoctoral fellow uses art and scholarship to paint a more complex picture of Black childhood.

A self-described “library kid,” Destiny Crockett looks back on her childhood in Saint Louis with gratitude for the women who came before her and supported her creativity and interest in storytelling.
“I was lucky enough to grow up with four generations of women in my life – my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother,” says Crockett. “I was always listening to the adults in my life, interested in how they crafted and shared stories with the younger generations.”
This early interest in storytelling led Crockett to pursue an undergraduate degree in English at Princeton; she went on to earn her doctoral degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania, with certificates in Africana studies and women, gender, and sexuality studies.
At Penn, she explored how Black women and girls are presented in various cultural settings and considered what those portrayals signified when considered in a larger societal context.
In her 2021 article published in Visual Arts Research, “Danitra Vance’s Cabrini-Green Jackson and the Performance of Black Girlishness,” Crockett reflects on a sketch from Saturday Night Live in which comedienne Danitra Vance takes on the persona of Cabrini Green Harlem Watts Jackson, a 17-year-old Black girl.
Through an examination of Vance's artistic choices, including her diction and movements, topics discussed, and her makeup, hair, and costume choices, Crockett challenges the idea often put forth by some in academia and the arts that Black girls are not perceived as children and therefore do not experience girlhood. Instead, Crockett suggests something much more complex.
“When she did these skits on SNL, she was a woman in her thirties making herself into a Black girl,” Crockett said. “Since there can be a performance of Black girlishness, then there must be something called Black childhood, and it cannot be true that there is no such thing as Black girlhood.”
As the inaugural Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow in Childhood Studies and Racial Justice at Rutgers–Camden, Crockett has continued to build on her wide-ranging body of scholarly work, including a monograph based on her doctoral dissertation, tentatively titled "Archive and Shine: After Innocence," and a collection of poems about Black women and girls, materialism, and the consequence of Black working-class women no longer being at the forefront on conversations about poverty and class.

Susan Miller, department chair and associate professor of childhood studies, believes that developing opportunities like the Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship is essential to supporting the critical research and creative endeavors of young academics like Crockett.
“The most important thing for a scholar is time—to read, write, teach, and connect with other professors and people in their field,” said Miller. “That can be hard for those in the humanities, because funding to support fellowships and postdoctoral work simply isn't as available as in other fields."
Crockett has taken full advantage of her time as a Mellon Humanities fellow. In addition to teaching several classes and continuing her scholarly work, Crockett has continued to nurture her vibrant visual art practice, working with hand-cut paper and mixed media to create collages that encourage the viewer to meditate on the meaning of Blackness and being.
It is a tangible complement to her academic examination of Black life through artistic and cultural expression.
"This work examines the broader Black cultural practice of collecting things that are available to you, like paper, old letters, and magazines," said Crockett. "It represents a collection of something important, but it also is an example of storytelling, much like what Black people create in other artistic areas, from music and books to performance or other art forms. We collect, and then we make from it."