Making Space for Diverse Masculinities: Difference, Intersectionality, and Engagement in an Urban High School

What it like for Black male students who are openly gay or gender non-conforming" to navigate the social geography of urban schools? In the tradition of critical ethnographies of schooling, Lance T. McCready mobilizes feminist theories of intersectionalilty to explore the voices of Black gay male students and their teachers in a Nothern California Comprehensive high school. He analyzes the brave and often hilarious ways students "make space" by challenging conventional notions of Black masculinity and gay identity in eductional spaces, such as an African dance program and the Gay-Straight Alliance. McCready challenges the dominance of race-class analyses in the field of urban education that fail to critically account for the relevance of gender and sexuality in school reform. The book will be of interest to anyone seeking to gain a better understanding of the lives of queer youth of color in urban communities. Their experiences open up new ways of viewing the troubles of Black boys and the interventions menat to address those troubles.

"Lance T. McCready has gone where few scholars of urban education have ventured. Thoughtfully, he weaves theoretical, empirical, and autobiographical details together to highlight the school lives of other `invisible' men---four young gay African American males attending a multiracial high school in nothern California. Making Space for Diverse Masculinities depicts how race, gender, and sexuality intersect to create disparated educational experiences for another marginalized student population in America's urban schools. This is a read for those who care about how to avoid reproducing multiple forms of inequality in education." Prudence L. Carter, Associate Professor, Stanford University

"This book is a breath of fresh air. It has come at a time of growing attention and concern over the status and plight of Black males. It is more than a book about being Black and gay in school. It is an analysis of the experiences of those who contest traditional notions of masculinity, and who at times, suffer consequences for doing so. It is also a wake-up call to those who claim to want to `save' black males but never question how traditional notions of masculinity may in fact contribute to the very problems that many black men and boys face. This book is insightful, at times funy and very well written. For those who are ready to do something to help, read this book and get ready to question your assumptions about what it means to be black and male in America today." Pedro A. Noguera, Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education, New York University; Executive Director, Metropolitan Center for Urban Education

Lance T. McCready is Assistant Professor of Urban Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.