American Educational History Journal, Volume 43, Number 1, pp. 41–57 Copyright © 2016 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. 41 IAP PROOFS © 2016 ARTICLE 4 THE ATLANTA URBAN DEBATE LEAGUE Exploring the Making of a Critical Literacy Space S. CRIDLAND-HUGHES Susan Cridland-Hughes Clemson University The Atlanta Urban Debate League was established in 1985 as an after- school program focused on providing debate outreach to high school stu- dents in the Atlanta public schools. Still in operation today, volunteers work with current students in public middle and high schools in Atlanta, supporting students as they practice reading, writing, speaking and think- ing related to a national debate topic on public policy. The story of the league is a story of lofty goals and a commitment to youth empowerment, but also a story about how financial concerns, structural inequality, and resource scarcity shape out-of-school curriculums and structures. Although planning and engaging in debates generated a substantial body of written work, very little survives to help chart the development of the community. In establishing a list of written resources for the study, I identified eight contemporary news articles, two contemporary articles by participants, one news report, and one binder of resources shared by an informant. Beyond the listed resources, the corpus of knowledge about