ABSTRACT
In response to the images and stories of black death in the media and the subsequent rise of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, YA authors have written stories engaging with police brutality against young black men and demonstrating the power of activism with young people as activists. Young people themselves have added to these conversations through creative works disseminated through new media platforms. Our chapter places one such book, Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely’s All American Boys, in conversation with works from one such artist, Todrick Hall. We discuss how using Critical Race English Education, informed by hip-hop literacies, facilitates an understanding of the layers of oppressive ideologies and representations of American youth activism within our focal texts. We draw out specific examples from these texts and detail potential classroom activities for using Critical Race English Education and hip-hop literacy to model youth agency and activism.
