Who Is Censored Here? A Look at Five Black Boys Navigating the Politics of Free Speech in School

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Youths' Critical Literacies in and Beyond Classrooms: Exploring Race, Censorship, and Transgressive Humor (Table 20)

Abstract

Despite attending one of the city's top schools, five Black male youth navigate the politics of free speech as their colloquialisms are surveilled in school. Based on an ongoing community partnership between a teacher-researcher and a high school for students with learning differences, this paper discusses various concerns, perceptions, and outcomes facing five Black male students at a predominately white preparatory school in a large-scale urban city. Using social network analysis, dialogic interviews, and focus group excursions, this study sought to develop safe spaces for brotherhood. Collectively we evaluated the findings and shared their implications alongside the researcher's findings on Black male colloquial bonds, censorship, and the divisive policies that infringe upon youth literacies in schools.

Author

• Abdul-Qadir D. Islam, Teachers College, Columbia University