Black boys' grief coping with peer homicide remain under-researched and undertheorized. This is especially significant when combined with the emerging understanding that Black boys may experience homicidal death in significantly different ways and durations than others. This manuscript examines the experiences of three Black boys attending an…

In this article, we utilized Charles Mills' "racial contract" and Derrick Bell's "interest-convergence" as theories to anchor our understanding of the exploitation of Black death to bolster institutional DEI efforts. We argue that mainstream forms of sociopolitical progress have emerged in the wake of Black death. In essence,…

Ryan Gainer, a 15-year-old African-American youth on the Autism-spectrum, was shot and killed by police officers in March 2024. The authors reflect on the tragedy of this incident and the harms that such police actions inflict on people living with disabilities and/or mental illnesses, as well as on their families, loved ones, and communities.…

Gun violence is a significant public health issue. The U.S. has more than one mass shooting a day in which four or more people are injured or killed. However, mass shootings are only the tip of the iceberg of gun violence. Among developed nations, the U.S. is an outlier in both gun possession and gun deaths. Gun deaths affect not only the victim…

Background: Although less than 2% of all homicides among young people are school-associated, since 1970 1373 K-12 school gun violence incidents have injured 1403 people and killed another 728. These incidents have changed the education landscape. Informed stakeholders must work together to prevent school gun violence. Methods: We reviewed the…

When the verdict was announced in the case of "State of Minnesota v. Derek Michael Chauvin," the university at which the author is employed made an announcement, probably much like those emitted at other colleges and universities around the country. The campus was informed that the verdict was an indication not of the sound state of…

Safety remains a key concern for parents and education policy makers. Homeschooling opponents argue that child abusers use homeschooling to isolate and harm their children while public school teachers and administrators, as mandatory reporters, reduce child maltreatment. Supporters of homeschooling argue that public schools expose children to…

This article examines the killing of three teenage boys at the U.S.-Mexico border between 2010 and 2013. Through an examination of these murders at the hands of U.S. Border Patrol and Customs and Border Enforcement agents, the article argues that the murders of Sergio Adrían Hernández Guereca, José Antonio Elena Rodríguez and Cruz Marcelino…

The increased publicity of mass shootings and the COVID-19 pandemic have fueled American demand for firearm purchases. Firearm violence has largely been blamed on people with mental illnesses instead of firearm accessibility, despite the lack of population-level evidence associating mental illness with firearm violence perpetration. We support…

This article positions theatre as a site for victims and activists to action their resistance against Gukurahundi related incarceration and human rights abuse perpetrated in the 1980s. Through case studying Talitha Koum and 1983, we examine resistance strategies deployed through theatre performance to expose Gukurahundi violence, invigorate debate…

Since March of 2020, two pandemics have hit the United States of America like a bag of bricks. The health pandemic as a result of COVID-19 that has killed over 180,000 Americans and the racially-charged genocides that continues to murder our Black brothers and sisters. As a result of constant disregard for Black lives, in part 1, we analyze the…

In this article, Adam Greteman considers the murder of Lawrence/Latisha King by Brandon McInerney in February 2008. Greteman turns to this case, a decade after it occurred, because it raises a number of issues regarding our evolving understandings of genders, sexualities, and the risks of encountering such differences in the space of school in the…

As Social Studies teachers with decades of combined experience and as teacher educators at a predominantly white midwestern university, the authors center their curriculum around teaching challenging and whole histories, analyzing primary sources, and creating classroom community spaces where difficult dialogues can safely happen. While the…

This article explores a number of ethical implications that could arise in classroom situations when tackling the topic of intimate partner violence and femicide prevention with adolescent students. Due to their disturbing nature these topics might cause distress to students. The elimination of these topics from school curricula aimed at avoiding…

In this essay, I use the singing caged bird as a mental model for addressing carceral logics generally and carcerality in K-12 and higher education, specifically. First, I offer a high-level overview of carceral logics to complement and extend what is offered in other sections of this volume by participating authors. Then, I segue into deeper…