A Counterstory of a Ronald E. McNair Program Participant and Sociopolitical Involvement in HIV/AIDS Advocacy

• In Event: Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: Queer on Campus: Identity and Advocacy in Higher Education

Abstract

In recent years, there has been multiple state and national initiatives addressing the social and academic advancement of Black males. Black men who navigate through the educational pipeline rarely go unscathed from racist and masuclinist social norms, especially those men who identify as gay. Black men who identify as gay are often expected to hide personal characteristics that mark them as different (Yoshino, 2002). Employing multiple forms of cultural wealth, this presentation explores a counterstory of a Black gay male and HIV positive participant of the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement program and how he counteracts social norms in pursuit of a graduate degree.

Authors

• Amalia Zuleyman Dache-Gerbino, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Rhodesia McMillian, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Jonathan Butler, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Grant McClintock, University of Missouri