To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (Male): New Narratives for the 21st Century

Using theory and methods of critical race counter-storytelling (Baszile, 2015; Solorzano & Yosso, 2002), the purpose of this presentation is to challenge majoritarian educational stories about Black male learners by highlighting examples of Black male academic talent demonstrated during a four-week summer literacy program focusing on culturally relevant curriculum for Black youth. This presentation will highlight specific examples of academic talent that were observed in the midst of Black male behavior that is typically categorized as “bad” or “unruly.” By providing alternative readings of these behaviors and the academic talents of critical thinking, creativity, symbolic thinking, and linguistic complexity they reveal, our purpose is to call attention to examples of Black male academic talent that are too often rendered invisible when assumptions about these learners are made based on majoritarian stories.