"We Dare Say Love": Supporting Achievement in the Educational Life of Black Boys

by Na'ilah Suad Nasir (Editor), Jarvis Givens (Revision), Christopher P. Chatmon (Retelling)

"We Dare Say Love" takes up the critically important issue of what it means to educate Black male students in a large urban district. It chronicles the development and implementation of the African American Male Achievement Initiative in Oakland Unified School District, following a small group of Black male educators who changed district policy and practice to create a learning experience for Black boys rooted in love. The book takes readers inside the classrooms and inside the heads and hearts of program founders, leaders, and instructors to understand their pedagogy of care. It also elucidates the rituals, beliefs, and practices that created a classroom environment that held high expectations for the engagement and achievement of Black boys and provided a space for Black male students to blossom. Book

160 pages, Paperback

Published December 28, 2018

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has particular significance for me because it is focused on education in a place I used to live (Oakland, CA), and is informing the work at my current place of employment. I appreciate many of the arguments it makes and the justification for targeted universalism, while still bringing up the critique of leaving out black girls and treating black boys as if they are something that needs fixing. I'll be interested to hear the discussion this book generates.