In this study, we examine how race and racism impact the schooling of African American males by analyzing the first-person perspective of hip-hop superstar, Nasir “Nas” Jones. We selected Nas due to his unique yet prevalent educational trajectory and perspectives. Critical race theory is employed as a framework as well as notions of Sankofa methodology and literary analysis to investigate his music, documentaries, and an open letter whereby he critiques the public school system while providing academic ideas to engage and inspire Black students. Studies about Black males routinely focus on their subpar academic performance with the intention of “correcting” these behaviors. We utilize the experiences of Nas to reframe the conversation and provide nuanced insight into Black educational experiences instead of perpetuating recycled, bleak narratives. This article concludes with suggestions for educators to better serve African American males in the Pre K-12 academic context.

This study interrogates the metanarrative surrounding Black boys in early childhood education and aims to endorse their role of participant-voice research in charting future scholarly endeavors. To do so, researchers are urged to be at the forefront of taking on this more comprehensive approach to understanding children’s meaning-making and actions. Applying the theoretical frameworks of critical childhood studies and praxis, underpinned by consequential research in education as the methodology, a reflective academic approach was initiated. This intellectual exercise prompts a shift from the pervasive “at-risk” label towards recognizing Black Boys as “at-resourced” – capable and valuable contributors to educational and social environments. This study contributes to a reimagined educational narrative, whereby the foregrounding of Black boys’ voices in early childhood education is valued and normalized.

In this article, we utilized Charles Mills' racial contract and Derrick Bell's interest-convergence as theories to anchor our understanding of the exploitation of Black death to bolster institutional DEI efforts. We argue that mainstream forms of sociopolitical progress have emerged in the wake of Black death. In essence, Black death precedes and is necessary for the enactment - often performatively - of institutional social justice efforts. Accordingly, policy and practice connected to diversity, equity, and inclusion, referred to as DEI, accurately reframed can be designated as DIE - a state in which the efforts of justice do not take place until the principal ingredient of Black death is added.

In this paper, we utilize the concepts of racial knowledge and subjective understanding to demonstrate how the metaphor of surrogacy encodes a racialized discourse via the epistemic authority of social science research. Taken together, we demonstrate how the pervasive use of surrogacy as a metaphor reflects the subjective understanding of Black male teachers produced through the racial knowledge of social science discourse. We argue that the metaphor of surrogacy has become so unquestioningly ubiquitous throughout education and popular culture that it has become the default conceptual framework regarding all reforms for Black young men and boys.

Purpose This study aims to stimulate scholarly attention and practical application pertaining to individuals recognized as “Docs.” Through conducting a comprehensive analysis and acquiring a profound understanding of its many connotations, the objective is to shift attitudes and approaches concerning those who are seen to possess knowledge and value within society. Design/methodology/approach For this study, culturally relevant pedagogies were used as theoretical frameworks in addition to Sankofa and concept explication being used as methodologies. Findings The authors identified three themes: (1) honorary cultural practice-community nomination of “professahs” and “docs,” (2) (Black) robinhoods – cultural signifiers of distinction and relatability and (3) docs as catalysts – elevating community via consciousness, trust and mentorship as significant understandings of this distinction. Originality/value The study emphasizes the importance of “Docs” in both academic and social contexts. The role of “Docs” serves to alleviate potential conflicts of being a Black intellectual. This study further reveals the ways in which Docs align with, promote or possibly undermine established frameworks of thought. Finally, this study provides institutions with opportunities to consider strategies for the utilization, recognition and integration of individuals who are frequently overlooked or undervalued.

Social studies has been lagging in the race to gain classroom instructional time due to the impact of high-stakes testing in urban schools. Furthermore, social studies can be particularly uninteresting to Black students whose diverse sociocultural histories and perspectives remain diminished or absent. Therefore, this paper advances curricular and pedagogical resuscitation (CPR) as a renewed and continuing quest to properly address and privilege Black students and their lived experiences. Employing BlackCrit, we forward CPR as a more accurate, timely, and holistic social studies approach—addressing the body, spirit, and mind of our students.

One justification given by social studies teachers for avoiding teaching or incorporating race into their lessons is the absence of race from textbooks. Given that textbooks continue to play a significant role in social studies instruction, the authors analyzed how Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, a Black scholar of the early twentieth century, accounted for race in two of the textbooks he wrote for K–12 teachers. In this essay, we used the principles of Black Critical Patriotism as a framework to analyze two of Woodson's textbooks—The Negro in Our History and Negro Makers of History. We concluded with a discussion regarding potential limitations while emphasizing the place for Woodson's textbooks within social studies classrooms.Keywords: Black educationBlack critical patriotismcitizenship educationCarter G. Woodson Notes1 In this paper, the terms "African Americans" and "Black" are used interchangeably.2 Colonel Charles Young was on October 6, 2021 posthumously promoted to Brigadier General, a rank in which he qualified and deserved but was unable to obtain due to his forced early medical retirement from the United States Army (Harrison, Citation2022).3 Specifically, leveraging Woodson's' books below we offer support in the social studies learning objectives of: primary source examination, historical inquiry, and interpretation. After each chapter of Negro Makers of History, Woodson gave teachers "Hints and Questions," as was mentioned before in the text. We specifically make suggestions for how some of the included questions closely align with the teaching of Black critical patriotism, even though the info included below just scratches the surface of what Woodson included in those areas. This list is not all-inclusive, though, as the chapters had numerous additional alignments with the three tenets.

This study seeks to understand students’ perceptions of self-agency and how they demonstrate their agency by engaging in discussions of a highly controversial wetland policy facing their community. Five focal students participating in this 13-month long curriculum were selected for further explorations. We traced their learning trajectories to explore how students perceive their own roles in coping with this environmental controversy. Our data included student interviews at three different learning phases and recordings of in-class deliberative activities. The results revealed that students were more aware of their own agency as they navigated the contesting viewpoints among stakeholders. Three themes were generated to explain this change: adults’ business, family communication, and empowerment through civic action. This study showcases that engaging students in deliberations about environmental controversies has the potential to make them more aware of their own agency and become agentic citizens in addressing contentious environmental issues.

This paper explores how Grow Your Own (GYO) educator initiatives can mitigate the pressing teacher shortage by unpacking the nature of the shortage and key factors of recruitment and retention. GYO proposes a solution by specifically targeting districts that often report the most frequent shortages: urban and rural schools. Our approach to recruitment expands the teacher pipeline and strives for retention by offering a strategy that capitalizes on asset-based community development and notions of heart work to assist in removing barriers that historically have kept Black, Latinx, Asian and other communities from pursuing teaching careers. Recommendations outline several current grant funding opportunities that can be utilized to establish a GYO, and encourage the exploration of partnerships with community-based organizations.

Research has shown that classroom instruction can be precarious when addressing potentially 'controversial' issues. Yet, students can benefit from examining the narratives of those who have questioned the merits of United States democratic citizenship. By employing critical childhood studies and windows, mirrors and sliding glass doors as theoretical frameworks and critical hermeneutic phenomenology as its methodology, this study elicits the perspectives of ten first- and second-grade Black male students via interviews and classroom discussions regarding the Colin Kaepernick protest. The findings indicated that counternarratives can be an effective instructional tool for student engagement, authentic expression, and analysis of social phenomenon.

This article explores how Black male teachers in Hollywood films continue to be encoded with meanings derived from deficit social science discourse generated through a white-controlled epistemic order. Drawing from the framework of critical public pedagogy and utilizing the critical visual cultural tradition, we contend that the representation of Black male teachers on film is rooted in longstanding conceptual narratives of Black men and boys. Findings indicate that cinematic films both develop their scripts around and contextualize the necessity of Black male teachers within deficit sociological tropes of absent Black fathers and their endangered sons.

Black experiences and discourse concerning citizenship are unique. Moreover, Black access to full citizenship is often a matter of life and death. The civic purposes driving this pursuit are often negated in conventional curriculum and pedagogy, especially in early childhood settings. Still, it is essential for educators and policymakers to understand the civic purposes that initiate and sustain civic engagement. The purpose of this study is to amplify the voices of young Black boys in regards to US citizenship. By employing notions of in the wake/wake work as the theoretical framework and curricular and pedagogical resuscitation (CPR) as the methodology, this study unearthed the power of children to examine the complexities and ironies of citizenship. More so, these first- and second-grade students linked Black citizenship to fundamental issues of life, death, and purpose. Ultimately, the authors call for instruction reflecting how for students, especially Black students, honorable civic purposes striving for full citizenship remain valued, respected, and enduring.

This study set out to gain a deeper understanding of how early childhood students, specifically Black boys in first- and second-grade, would respond to the teaching of historical figures and events traditionally omitted from classrooms. Contrary to general assumptions, these students were able to astutely contribute to classroom lessons, discussions, and interviews about Nat Turner, an enslaved Black American, who led a rebellion in 1831. Employing notions of Black intellectual thought and curricular and pedagogical resuscitation as theoretical frameworks, in addition to critical hermeneutic phenomenology as its methodology, this study highlights the voices of young Black boys often missing in early childhood discourse. Findings indicate that the students expressed a favorable assessment of Nat Turner and his comrades. The statement, "But there is a God," ultimately confronts the unavailability and restricted options for Black humanity in a racist society, but also an awareness testifying to a self-ordained defense of the Black body. This study gives added perspective to the understanding of the early learning process, cultural meaning-making, and connection to a Black educational legacy spanning generations.

Private high schools are often viewed as bastions of scholastic and social opportunities, but the cost of tuition has rendered these sites predominantly white and more segregated than public schools. However, with the ability to recruit, Black boys have become prime targets of predominantly white private Catholic high schools seeking promising student-athletes. As a result, the population of Black boys at these schools are composed almost entirely of students recruited to play a sport. Drawing from qualitative interview data, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the racialized experiences of six Black boys who attended a predominantly white Catholic high school in which the entire Black population was composed of student-athletes. Findings indicate that participants initially saw the private Catholic school as an escape from their respective public schools but realized that mere attendance did not result in total inclusion. All six participants encountered forms of antiblackness via frequent structural and cultural assaults that made their daily attendance at the school difficult.

Critical scholars contend it must be the duty of those who are marginalized to create pedagogy that will empower themselves. As such, researchers continue to explore ways and means by which Black male students can engage with and enact literacy. While a significant amount of research has been conducted on hip-hop pedagogies and literacy, there lacks examination into how the specific element of battle rap functions as a location to cultivate the critical consciousness of students. This research seeks to highlight how the genre of battle rap can be a pedagogical tool of literary expression, while simultaneously shedding traditional standards of instruction which have constrained learning opportunities, particularly for Black male students. Critical literacy as a theoretical framework and critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a methodology are employed to advance battle rap as an effective instructional tool. Ultimately, this study seeks to privilege the educational experiences of Black male students and complex our interpretations of how language, literacy, and culture intersect and can be exercised in US classrooms.

This article argues that Black cultural studies must be understood as an intersectional intervention of praxis. Grounding our field in the past, speaking from the present, and projecting to the future, we examine the transformational influence that Black feminist theory has had on cultural studies, from Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw’s defense of 2 Live Crew, to the #SayHerName and Protect Black Women rally and marches.

We assert the concepts of “role model” and “mentor” continue to permeate educational and public discourse as viable means of behavioral modification among young Black males facing multiple inequities. Though these terms it seems, have obtained significant currency, they also carry a degree of ubiquity—obscuring proper understanding and future application. By analyzing existing educational and social science literature of role modeling and mentoring in relation to Black males, three common discourses are presented and explained: (1) lack and need of clarity as it pertains to the terms role model and mentor, (2) socialization centered around discipline, rules, order and/or care and reciprocity, and (3) focus on the individual. We draw on these discourses to complex current reasoning pertaining to the Black male role model and mentor as well as suggest further research applying to its theory and practice.

The intent of this article is to present four historical physical education teacher educators as role models for intellectuals in academia and in particular, Black scholars in teacher education. Utilizing the concepts of archetype and critical race currere, we frame the lifeworks of E.B. Henderson, Anita J. Turner, LeRoy T. Walker, and Lavonia Allison as a curriculum for modern scholars.