ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author reflects on an experience that took place during his first year of teaching. The racially related experience demonstrates how the death of Trayvon Martin impacted him as a Black male and as a Black male high school ELA teacher. The author explains how the #BlackLivesMatter Movement connects to education and the field of language and literacy and English education. He articulates how this particular experience impacted him not only as a Black male and as a Black son but also as a Black English educator. More specifically, he illustrates the physical violence that unfolds in the streets bleeds into ELA classrooms. As such, the author explains what anti-Black violence looks like in ELA classrooms and the ways it can transpire through ELA teachers’ curricular decisions and pedagogical practices.
