This year-long ethnographic study explored the occupational aspirations and informal educational experiences of 25 diverse homeless adolescents who found social welfare assistance through Empower, a nonprofit organization. Using organizational habitus and intersectionality as theoretical frameworks and constant comparative analysis, I found that…

This interview study examines the school choices of white middle class parents who live in a large Northeastern city. Interviewees identify as progressive urbanites and express an appreciation for racial diversity. Simultaneously, interviewees draw on anti-Black stereotypes when evaluating school options and avoiding majority Black schools. While…

Diversifying the student body in teacher education programs (TEPs) remains an elusive goal. Despite recruiting efforts, few men of color complete programs leading to teaching credentials. To problematize this phenomenon, this study examines the experiences of three men of color enrolled in a predominantly White teacher education program (PWTEP).…

In this qualitative research study we illustrate how implicit biases held by college personnel hinders the educational success of Latino men attending urban community colleges in Texas. In particular, we identify how often well-intentioned educators are (un)aware of how often they perpetrate racial microaggressions against Latino men. Interviews…

Despite good intentions, educators often inadvertently uphold systems of antiblackness that undermine the well-being of Black students. This article combines qualitative content analysis and interactional analysis to interrogate how daily interactions between educators in an urban high school in the Midwest may contribute to a school culture of…

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is important for academic and social success, yet responsive SEL for Black youth remains underexamined. The current study analyzed focus groups to investigate how Black boys (N = 10) in an urban middle school think about emotion and its regulation. Results revealed that participants negotiate tension between emotion…

This case study examines how three American Indian families' language and literacy practices influence their children's emergent bilingual development in a predominately White, urban community in a Northwestern U.S. city. The study explores the families' life stories and their expressions of Indigenous language use and cultural practices. The…

Our research is guided by the aim to use counterstories pedagogically in teacher education. We report on counterstory-based parent teacher conference simulations, where composite case narratives support teacher candidates in taking up asset-based perspectives. Our work rests upon the assertion that asset-based framing must not remain purely…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the narratives constructed by urban youth in a summer program for future educators of color. In particular, we asked, "In what ways do students use texts to create counternarratives of urban education?" Utilizing visual counternarratives and counterstorytelling as theoretical frames, and through…

In this article, I propose a critical, alternative framing of Black boys, asserting that Black boys are vulnerable resources rather than problems. Black boys are susceptible to racist and ableist practices and discourses, and they deserve special protection and services in school that do not position them as "in need of repair." Despite…

This study examines Asian students' interracial/interethnic friendships at a multiracial middle school. Friendship groups remain predominantly segregated despite the school's efforts, reflecting community and parental influences. The circulation of uncontested stereotypes such as "loud" and "brash" African Americans is based on…

This qualitative research study explores counternarratives to stereotypes and assumptions made about Black women on welfare in low-income, urban communities. Findings, based on in-depth interviews with 33 mothers and grandmothers, challenge perceptions of "welfare queens"--breeders of children, absorbed by the culture of poverty, and…

Racial battle fatigue (RBF) has been operationalized as the psychological, emotional, and physiological toll of confronting racism. In this article, RBF is used to analyze the toll of racism on teachers of Color who work within a predominantly White profession. We present counterstories of justice-oriented, urban, teachers of Color who demonstrate…

This study explores a psychosocial concept coined by the author referred to as "Urban Critical Literacy" (UCL). UCL is an emergent four-step strategy employed by five African American young men as they navigated their cultural worlds of home and school in an urban setting. Critical literacy is the theoretical conceptual framework that…

Racial/ethnic stereotypes are deep rooted in our history; among these, the dangerous Black male stereotype is especially relevant to issues of differential school discipline today. Although integration in the wake of "Brown v. Board of Education" was intended to counteract stereotype and bias, resegregation has allowed little true…