*Note* This scheduling program was not designed by folks who do a lot with APA Style and unfortunately it defaults to listing authors in alphabetical order. We cannot fix this for this online schedule, but the author orders are posted in the order submitted in the printed program available via pdf here.
Research indicates that less than two percent of K-12 educators are African American males (National Center for Education Statistic, 2010). In order to recruit African American men into teaching, the project, “Black Men Teaching” targets African American youth, especially from low-income neighborhoods, in hopes of inspiring them to become educators. This facilitated discussion is designed to bring together advocates of underserved, minority populations in hope of formulating new ideas to resolve this dilemma. The lack of Black men in education is problematic. One of the main reasons for the dismally low number of African-American male teachers is that African-American males hold negative views toward teaching as a career. Teaching is often viewed as a woman's profession and as a low-paying field (Smith, 2004). Black youth have had little exposure to positive role models in the educational setting. Without these role models, African American children lack the guidance needed to pursue a career in education. In addition, White children are disadvantaged. Stereotypes exists about Black men; Caucasian children would benefit from exposure to positive Black male role models in order to debunk these beliefs and create a society with less prejudice. Black youth from low-income communities are faced with the realities of oppression every day, causing them to make choices that may lead them to incarceration or even worse, death. By targeting these communities with an advocacy program such as “Black Men Teaching”, I believe we can help these children create promising futures. My goal for this facilitated discussion is to bring together professionals who are working in a similar area or have an interest in advocating for underserved, minority groups. I hope to create a space where we can discuss and develop new ways to recruit Black youth into education. In addition, this space can be used to discuss forms of oppression and barriers Black youth face, and ways to combat these problems.
Feminist multicultural therapists assert that contextual factors, such as oppression and discrimination, contribute to psychological distress, limit access to resources and information, and isolate individuals from sustaining communities (e.g., Brown, 2010). They suggest that participation in social justice activism contributes to psychological wellbeing, such as increased empowerment, social connectedness, and resilience (e.g., Arczynski, 2014; Worell & Remer, 2003). Activism is also a way people may nurture and care for themselves as well as others in their community(s) while reducing oppression, harassment, and marginalization. Hagen (2013) demonstrated that individuals with diverse circumstances, with varied social identities, and from various social contexts may prefer different types of social justice activism. Further, the different activisms people reported preferring and engaging in held different socio-cultural-political meaning and relevance based on their beliefs, values, and experiences of oppression and privilege (Hagen, 2013). The purpose of this structured discussion is to cultivate participants’ empowerment to create positive social change in their varied communities. We will encourage a broad conceptualization of activism in order to include behaviors and strategies on micro, meso/community, and macro levels. We will give attention and sensitivity to different socio-cultural perspectives on oppression, power, and privilege. First, we focus on discussing specific concerns and experiences of oppression and marginalization relevant to participants’ communities (e.g., home, work, churches, families, friend networks). Then, we anticipate dialoguing about specific social justice activisms that participants presently engage in or have interest in doing in order to target oppression observed in participants’ local and national communities. Last, we will encourage participants to brainstorm strategies for collaborating with other people to increase social support; challenge discrimination, and increase access to opportunities, information, and resources. In this structured discussion, we will address challenges and benefits associated with engaging in activism.
