Kinship, Community, and Counternarratives: An Autoethnography of Blackness and Mathematics in Rural America

This autoethnographic study examines the intersections of Blackness, rural identity, and mathematics learning through the lens of critical race theory (CRT) and its tenet of counterstorytelling. Drawing from the author’s lived experiences growing up as a Black student in a small, rural Kentucky town and being raised by a single grandparent, this study highlights the unique challenges and opportunities of navigating mathematics education in this context. Through personal narratives, it critiques dominant urban-centered perspectives in mathematics education and explores themes of kinship, community, tokenization, and representation. The findings underscore the cultural and structural barriers Black students face in rural mathematics classrooms, the transformative role of culturally responsive teaching, and the need to expand research on rural educational experiences. This work contributes to broader efforts to humanize mathematics education, challenge inequities, and amplify marginalized voices in academic discourse.