If you read or watch the news, you would easily believe that Black boys and men's educational trajectories are bleak and that they are impervious to success (Harper, 2012). While Black boys and men are one of the most marginalized groups in the U.S., the perception that they do not care about education is not true. In an effort to dispel these stereotypes and perceptions, we center the lived experience of an early-career Black male scholar and professor. Listen as we unpack what it means to be a Black man on campus, from Black identity formation as an undergrad student at a Historically Black University (HBCU) to completing advanced graduate degrees at a Predominately White Institution (PWIs), and everything else in between.

To discuss this journey, we are joined by Dr. Christopher Johnson. His dissertation, Negotiating Black Male Identity While Navigating Predominately White Institutions, explored Black male doctoral students' strategies and behaviors to manage their interracial interaction with their White faculty and peers at a Predominately White Institution (PWI). Dr. Johnson is an assistant professor at Coe College, where he teaches Sport and Black Culture, Interracial Communication, and interracial interactions. You can find him on Instagram @DeepAsEmptyPockets.

Resources

Harper, S. R., & Davis III, C. H. (2012). They (Don't) Care about Education: A Counternarrative on Black Male Students' Responses to Inequitable Schooling. Educational Foundations, 26, 103-120.

Johnson, C. O. (2016). Negotiating black male identity while navigating predominately white institutions (Doctoral dissertation, University of Georgia).