#educationis...

This reflection has been a long time coming and is deeply personal.

The most challenging aspect of doing this work upon which I have embarked is answering the question: "Why Black men?" This question has gotten to the root of a lot of my personal qualms and issues that date back to my upbringing and the influence of patriarchy and paternalism in my school and non-school lives. I remember grappling with my thoughts about feminism and developing my identity as a womanist during the early parts of my college career. Around that time, I came to the conclusion that throughout the history of Black social movements, Black women are often the heart of the movements but their role and influence often gets overshadowed. Furthermore, both the Civil Rights Movement and - to a greater extent - the Black Power Movement were predicated on the reclamation of Black manhood.

Black women like bell hooks, Angela Davis, Patricia Hill-Collins, Alice Walker and Michele Wallace have been outspoken in their criticism of the exclusion of Black women from the forefront of those movements. Alice Walker even coined the term "womanism" to describe the distinctive movement and collective effort to uplift the Black woman. I admire all of these women, consider myself a womanist and strongly advocate for the uplift and progress of Black women and their issues.

So how did I end up becoming an outspoken advocate for improving the lives and educational trajectories of young, Black men? Well, this could be a dissertation, so I'll try to keep it short and sweet:

My advocacy for this issue presents a unique opportunity to meaningfully include women in a conversation that affects the young men they often teach and raise. The unspoken narrative around the failure of Black boys - and, by extension, Black men - blames women for failing to teach and raise them adequately. Furthermore, I have noticed a blaring and almost offensive exclusion of women from conversations about how to solve Black boys' problems. I have attended panels, workshops and read books by Black men that cite male mentorship and the visibility of positive Black male role models as solutions to the crisis. But where do women fit in the conversation? To date, they haven't, so allow me to insert myself.

Schools are not safe for young, Black men. As a student growing up with Black boys for classmates, I saw it. As a teacher who taught Black boys, I live with the blood on my hands. Forget the fact that schools were created to educate indoctrinate women. Leading scholars argue - and the data agrees - that schools are not designed to meet the unique learning needs of men - regardless of color (see this post). That issue is only exacerbated by the unique cultural and social experiences of young, Black men. When I think about how to revolutionize (not reform) education policy and spaces, I cannot help but prioritize the needs of those people with the lowest graduation rates and outcomes of any racial or gender group. Read: If we help young, Black men, it creates a ripple effect that will inevitably improve the outcomes of other groups.

This society does not value Black men. Our society views Black males from the deficit perspective and creates odd narratives that perpetuate age-old myths of Black men being hyper-sexualized, violent and unintelligent (see this post). So it comes as no surprise that there has not been an urgent response to dealing with their educational needs and attempting to elevate their experiences. All that being said, we cannot afford to sit around and wait for the powers that be to get a clue. We need to harness our resources, energy and intelligence toward improving the quality of education for all students - particularly for young, Black men. 

These are just a few of my reasons. I think what saddens me the most is that I even need to answer that question. After all, my work to uplift Black men is in no way in conflict with my lifelong pursuit and commitment to the ongoing uplift and advancement of the issues of Black women...to be clear. 

And if you don't give a care about my personal issues, just go read the Schott Foundation's Report and do what YOU can!

with L.O.V.E.