Examining the Multiple Sites of Meaning in a Participant Photography Project With Black Male College Students

Participant photography is a visual method that has been widely used in research to elevate the voices of historically marginalized populations. Although much has been written about the nature of the visual method, including its benefits and challenges, less is known about how meaning is made of the visual images as they move throughout the research process. To this end, this article draws upon data and the methodological notes from a research study examining Black masculinities and employs a critical visual methodology to examine the different sites of meaning-making in a participant photography research project with Black college men. First, the participant reflections on the visual methodology will be used to examine the image production process, which includes the men’s decisions regarding photographic tools and their image-making strategies. Then, select images from the project and the corresponding narratives will be shared and situated within the social context in which they were produced. Finally, this article will discuss practical and ethical considerations regarding the circulation and audiencing of the project images and conclude with a discussion of the lessons learned in using a critical visual methodology to explore how meaning is made in a participant photography project with Black men

Racial Microaggressions: The Schooling Experiences of Black Middle-Class Males in Arizona’s Secondary Schools

The literature on Black education has often neglected significant analysis of life in schools and the experience of racism among Black middle-class students in general and Black middle-class males specifically. Moreover, the achievement gap between this population and their White counterparts in many cases is greater than the gap that exists among working-class Blacks and Whites. This study begins to document the aforementioned by illuminating the racial microaggressions experienced by Black middle-class males while in school and how their families’ usage of social and cultural capital deflect the potential negative outcomes of school racism

(In)Visible Men on Campus: Campus Racial Climate and Subversive Black Masculinities at a Predominantly White Liberal Arts University

There is an emerging body of literature examining the academic success of Black men attending predominantly White colleges and universities, though less is known about Black college men’s experiences at liberal arts institutions. In this paper, I draw upon semi-structured and photovoice interview data from a study on Black male college students attending a predominantly White liberal arts institution in the USA. Specifically, I will present narrative and visual data of how Black college men perceive the campus racial climate and make sense of their (in)visibility at the university. Drawing upon poststructuralist theories of gender and critical race theory, I analyze the ways in which they managed race, gender and sexuality within university spaces, giving attention to their agency in performing a range of masculinities in response to and in anticipation of campus-based racism and racialized discourses. By situating their gendered performances within the context of the campus racial climate, I argue that universities are sites of racial and gender socialization where dominant ideologies of Black masculinities are imposed, and where ontological installments of gender play out in ways that can impact Black males’ inclusion on campus. Suggestions for the improvement of Black male higher education success will be discussed

Campus Racial Climate, Boundary Work and the Fear and Sexualization of Black Masculinities on a Predominantly White University

This article presents data from a study of Black men and masculinities at a predominantly White university. I argue that the campus racial climate on predominantly White universities are important sites of boundary work where fear and sexualization of Black masculinities are normalized in ways that shape Black men’s social relations on college campuses. In doing so, I will share narrative data of how Black male college students perceive the campus racial climate, with a focus on how they are feared and sexualized in predominantly White spaces. I also analyze the ways in which they managed race, gender, and sexuality within school spaces, and situate their gendered performances within the context of the boundary work of the university. Attention will be given to their agency in how they respond to White fears and sexualization of Black men

“I’m Trying to Get My A”: Black Male Achievers Talk About Race, School and Achievement

This study seeks to challenge deficit views on Black male education by highlighting the perspectives of academically successful Black males in a secondary school setting. Employing interpretive qualitative methods, I present the narratives of academically successful Black males, emphasizing their reflections on race, school and academic achievement. In particular, this study highlights the educational dispositions and expectations of Black males, including the influences of their support systems on their academic trajectories. One support system comprised of parents, including the academic expectations held of their sons as well as their racial socializing practices. Another support system included their teachers, particularly those who demonstrated pedagogical, expectation and relational characteristics seen as enabling Black male success

‘Tell Your Own Story’: Manhood, Masculinity and Racial Socialization Among Black Fathers and Their Sons

This study examines how black fathers and sons in the U.S. conceptualize manhood and masculinity and the racial socializing practices of black men. Drawing upon data from an ethnography on Black male schooling, this paper uses the interviews with fathers and sons to explore how race and gender intersect in how Black males make meaning of their gendered performances. Common notions of manhood are articulated including independence, responsibility and providership. However, race and gender intersect in particular ways for black men. The fathers engaged in particular racial socializing practices preparing their sons for encounters with racism. Both fathers and sons adopted black existentialist perspectives, emphasizing self-determination and resilience as racially and politically motivated acts of resistance. Finally, the paper describes how the fathers modeled to their sons how to navigate racialized spaces as black men

Like Father, Like Son? Reflections on Black Cultural Capital and Generational Conceptions of Work

This article extends our understanding of Black middle-class social mobility by examining successful cases of social reproduction. Specifically, using autoethnographic methods, two Black junior faculty reflect upon their fathers’ uses of cultural capital and the generational differences in conceptions of appropriate work. For the first generation middle-class Black fathers, material realities and the technocratic nature of their work influenced their interpretations of appropriate employment. In contrast, the second-generation’s access to particular cultural and economic capital influenced the sons’ conceptions of work, demonstrating generational differences in Black middle-class occupational ideology. Responding to deficit views on Black mobility, this article highlights the power and influence of Black fathers on mobility patterns and the resulting generational differences in appropriate work. Recommendations are presented for educators and parents in improving social mobility among young, Black middle-class males

“Just as Bad as Prisons”: The Challenge of Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline Through Teacher and Community Education

Drawing upon the authors’ experiences working in schools as teachers, teacher educators, researchers, and community members, this study utilizes a Critical Race Theory of education in examining the school-to-prison pipeline for black male students. In doing so, the authors highlight the particular role educators play in the school-to-prison pipeline, focusing particularly on how dispositions toward black males influence educator practices. Recommendations and future directions are provided on how education preparation programs can play a critical role in the transformation of black male schooling

“I don’t fit that stereotype”: Participant Photography and the Visual (Re)positioning of Black Men

This paper examines how Black men use a participant photography project as a tool for meaning making during the current political and social context of anti-Black racism, Black activism, and intersectional politics. Using a critical visual methodology in the analysis of the images, this paper will examine how Black men make meaning of current social issues through the types of images they produced, how they make meaning of the types of audiences they are speaking to through the project, and how these meanings are reflected through their repositioning practices in the visual project. Specific attention is paid to how they used the project to visually reposition themselves against raced-gendered hegemonic ontologies of Black masculinities by producing images and narratives that were intended to educate and disrupt dominant discourses on Black men. For this reason, I argue that the visual project is a type of repositioning event, which was a way for Black men to resist racial hegemony through the participant photography project

Photographs and Stories: Ethics, Benefits and Dilemmas of Using Participant Photography with Black Middle-Class Male Youth

Drawing upon research conducted with Black American middle-class youth in a secondary school, this article highlights the use of participant photography with Black male youth. Participant photography is a visual method that places the power of photo documentation in the hands of research subjects, empowering them to document and reflect on social issues and cultural phenomena important to them. This article highlights the significance of the method when exploring the understudied lives of Black middle-class males, ethical considerations of using visual methods with youth populations, as well as the benefits and dilemmas of engaging Black male youth in participant photography. Visual and narrative data produced from the participant photography project are used to highlight the benefits and ethical dilemmas of the method when working with Black male middle-class youth