As a Black queer teacher with over 10+ years of teaching across various cultures, including in the Midwest, East Coast, Appalachia, and at an HBCU in the South, I wanted to provide a road map/examples of how teachers of all sorts can intentionally create spaces where Black queer students thrive.
While ample attention has been given to book bans, especially recently, one aspect is, oddly, glaringly absent from the conversation- how are minority children who desire to read these books impacted by these bans?
Instead, it was a post that read “They’re having a best gay movie off” and it featured two films - Call Me By Your Name and Red, White & Royal Blue. Individuals, particularly Black queer men like myself, were stunned as the film Moonlight, which won an Oscar, was glaringly absent from the discussion (a topic for another day).
It is incredibly dehumanizing, discouraging, and demoralizing to be a 1st generation, neurodivergent Black queer man who flourished academically while others, including friends, seemed to be relegated to the shadows.
When he was in the fifth grade at F. L. Stanton Elementary School, Jason B. Allen led a group of classmates in a community service activity.
His teacher at the time overheard him venting about what was happening in the community and how he felt like no one cared about its upkeep.
“She, Miss Edwards, who is still teaching today, inspired me to do something about it,” Allen told The Reckoning. “Instead of going to Six Flags for a class trip, we cleaned yards, cut grass, and picked up trash.”
There he was at ten years old, leading his classmates and helping to sustain the community. Today, Allen is one of two candidates seeking to replace Jason F. Esteves, the current board chair of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education, as the at-large District 9 representative. D’Jaris ‘DJ’ James, founder of a college and career coaching program, Secrets of a Southern Belle & Gent, is the other candidate.
