Transnational Black Youth Theorizing Justice for Trayvon(s): Implications for Curriculum Theory and Practice

• In Event: Black Bodies: Visuality, Discourse, and Antiracist Justice

Abstract

This paper explores the theoretical and practical significance of the “Justice for Trayvon” movement for curriculum theory and practice. The national discourses surrounding the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman were curricularized as a “Justice for Trayvon” unit, taught in March and April of 2012. Follow-up interviews during and after The State of Florida vs. Zimmerman, which ended in Zimmerman’s acquittal on 2nd degree murder and manslaughter charges, sparking national protests and commitments to mobilize for social justice, are also included. I argue that engaging this on-going teachable moment allows for a broader discussion of how racism partially structures the lives of a group of Black-identified students from West Africa and Haiti, recently arrived to the United States.

Author

• Chike McLoyd, University of Pennsylvania