This book of matrices with Black boys as the main character is designed to help gifted and talented education teachers leverage Black boys’ identities to inform and shape how they plan and deliver curriculum and instruction and manage the multicultural, democratic, and culturally responsive classroom. Ford and colleagues (2005) spoke to the notion of and need for ‘self-reflective instruction.’ We argue that all teachers must want to and learn how to legitimize the “everyday” experiences that are learned and cultivated in the homes and communities of Black boys, and how these experiences shape their self-identities and contribute to agency (Wright, Counsell, & Tate 2015). We, therefore, advocate for the rethinking of literacies by repositioning White-centered texts that often reflect and represent power and privilege toward centering the brilliance of Black identities of Black children in general, Black boys in particular. Black boys (of all ages) want to and need to physically see positive images of themselves in books reflected at them. This representation, we argue, has the potential to become an example of a compelling counter-narrative to the history of the “all-White world” (Larrick, 1965) of children’s books that only presented Black characters as “objects of ridicule and generally inferior beings” (Sims Bishop 2012, p. 6). When Black boys see themselves portrayed visually, textually, and realistically in children’s books, vital messages of recognition, value, affirmation, and validation are conveyed. Recognition of the sociocultural contexts in which they live is celebrated. Books for and about Black boys must be rigorous, authentic, multicultural, and developmentally appropriate to allow them to synthesize what they have read, heard, and seen during literacy instruction in authentic and meaningful ways. Multicultural books must introduce children to information about the values of justice, fairness, and equity. Developmentally appropriate books should vary with and adapt to the age, experience, and interests of gifted and talented Black boys to allow them the opportunity to demonstrate critical thinking, textual analysis skills and convey conceptual knowledge. These stories must expose Black boys to culturally relevant counter stories -- stories that counteract the dominant discourse that has primarily depicted Black boys as “at risk” versus placed at risk; “without hope” versus hopeful; or “out of control and dangerous” (Tatum, 2005, p. 28) versus developing self-control like all other children (Wright et al., 2018).

Each year, the United States witnesses significant changes in the demographics of its citizens. Accordingly, schools—and the students we teach—are also changing. With such changes come the need, responsibility, and obligation for educators to provide students with an education that is both rigorous and culturally responsive. This book bridges the gap that exists between educating advanced learners and educating culturally different learners. Multicultural Gifted Education, 2nd ed. addresses various topics, including racially and culturally diverse students and families, historical and legal perspectives on educating gifted and minority students, culturally responsive curriculum and assessment, and counseling students from a multicultural perspective.

A special 75th anniversary edition of Richard Wright's powerful and unforgettable memoir, with a new foreword by John Edgar Wideman and an afterword by Malcolm Wright, the author’s grandson. When it exploded onto the literary scene in 1945, Black Boy was both praised and condemned. Orville Prescott of the New York Times wrote that “if enough such books are written, if enough millions of people read them maybe, someday, in the fullness of time, there will be a greater understanding and a more true democracy.” Yet from 1975 to 1978, Black Boy was banned in schools throughout the United States for “obscenity” and “instigating hatred between the races.” Wright’s once controversial, now celebrated autobiography measures the raw brutality of the Jim Crow South against the sheer desperate will it took to survive as a Black boy. Enduring poverty, hunger, fear, abuse, and hatred while growing up in the woods of Mississippi, Wright lied, stole, and raged at those around him—whites indifferent, pitying, or cruel and Blacks resentful of anyone trying to rise above their circumstances. Desperate for a different way of life, he headed north, eventually arriving in Chicago, where he forged a new path and began his career as a writer. At the end of Black Boy, Wright sits poised with pencil in hand, determined to “hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo.” Seventy-five years later, his words continue to reverberate. “To read Black Boy is to stare into the heart of darkness,” John Edgar Wideman writes in his foreword. “Not the dark heart Conrad searched for in Congo jungles but the beating heart I bear.” One of the great American memoirs, Wright’s account is a poignant record of struggle and endurance—a seminal literary work that illuminates our own time.

An autobiography that chronicles the trials and triumphs Harry Saffold Jr faced in his quest to enter the industry as a writer. After experiencing sexual abuse at age ten Saffold wrestled with self-esteem, being bullied, suicide and later embarked on a wild path that eventually landed him in prison for 12 1/2 years. Through spiritual development and persistence, Saffold went on to become a filmmaker, author, artist, and motivational speaker.

On the morning of March 5, 1959, Luvenia Long was listening to gospel music when a news bulletin interrupted her radio program. Fire had engulfed the Arkansas Negro Boys Industrial School in Wrightsville, thirteen miles outside of Little Rock. Her son Lindsey had been confined there since January 14, after a judge for juveniles found him guilty of stealing from a neighborhood store owner. To her horror, Lindsey was not among the forty-eight boys who had clawed their way through the windows of the dormitory to safety. Instead, he was among the twenty-one boys between the ages of thirteen and seventeen who burned to death. Black Boys Burning presents a focused explanation of how systemic poverty perpetuated by white supremacy sealed the fate of those students. A careful telling of the history of the school and fire, the book provides readers a fresh understanding of the broad implications of white supremacy. Grif Stockley’s research adds to an evolving understanding of the Jim Crow South, Arkansas’s history, the lawyers who capitalized on this tragedy, and the African American victims. In hindsight, the disaster at Wrightsville could have been predicted. Immediately after the fire, an unsigned editorial in the Arkansas Democrat noted long-term deterioration, including the wiring, of the buildings. After the Central High School desegregation crisis in 1957, the boys’ deaths eighteen months later were once again an embarrassment to Arkansas. The fire and its circumstances should have provoked southerners to investigate the realities of their “separate but equal institutions.” However, white supremacy ruled the investigations, and the grand jury declared the event to be an anomaly.

A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book Just when seventeen-year-old Matt thinks he can’t handle one more piece of terrible news, he meets a girl who’s dealt with a lot more—and who just might be able to clue him in on how to rise up when life keeps knocking him down—in this “vivid, satisfying, and ultimately upbeat tale of grief, redemption, and grace” (Kirkus Reviews) from the Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe Award–winning author of When I Was the Greatest. Matt wears a black suit every day. No, not because his mom died—although she did, and it sucks. But he wears the suit for his gig at the local funeral home, which pays way better than the Cluck Bucket, and he needs the income since his dad can’t handle the bills (or anything, really) on his own. So while Dad’s snagging bottles of whiskey, Matt’s snagging fifteen bucks an hour. Not bad. But everything else? Not good. Then Matt meets Lovey. Crazy name, and she’s been through more crazy stuff than he can imagine. Yet Lovey never cries. She’s tough. Really tough. Tough in the way Matt wishes he could be. Which is maybe why he’s drawn to her, and definitely why he can’t seem to shake her. Because there’s nothing more hopeful than finding a person who understands your loneliness—and who can maybe even help take it away.

This much-needed book will help schools and, by extension, society to better understand and identify the promise, potential, and possibilities of Black boys. Drawing from their wealth of experience in early childhood education, the authors present an asset- and strengths-based view of educating Black boys. This positive approach enables practitioners and school leaders to recognize, understand, and cultivate the diversity of social skills of Black boys in the early grades (pre-K–3rd grade). Each chapter begins with a vignette to illustrate what is lost when Black boys are prevented from participating freely in boyhood, having to instead attend to adult and peer interactions and attitudes that view them as “bad boys” and “troublemakers.” This accessible book provides teachers with classroom strategies to help young Black boys achieve their highest potential, along with other resources for supporting their social-emotional development, such as a reading list of authentic multicultural children’s books with Black boys as protagonists. “The Brilliance of Black Boys claims new ground to advance knowledge and practice that can change the narrative about Black boys and their early schooling.” —From the Foreword by James Earl Davis, Temple University “Wright’s uncommon insight into the world of Black boys unveils a new narrative and gives educators a formula for turning opportunity into advantage.” —Carol Brunson Day, past president, NAEYC “The Brilliance of Black Boys provides counter-stories, theories, paradigms, and resources to skillfully illustrate the strengths of Black boys. Readers will not be disappointed.” —Donna Y. Ford, Vanderbilt University