“Nothing has stopped me. I keep going:” Black gay narratives

ABSTRACT

Are being Black and gay problematic in the United States? Are Black gay youth suffering with these two intersecting identities? Traditional Eurocentric epistemologies would have one believe that Black males, Black gay males, and gay males (liminal groups) are suffering, rarely acknowledging those successfully navigating through society. Oftentimes, Black males and gay males are viewed as being at a disadvantage and struggling through life, which several scholars challenge in their work. What about those Black gay males who love themselves and accept their intersecting identities? Themes are presented here from a qualitative study that gathered life histories of how Black gay youth have negotiated their identities by navigating through social spaces and institutions while having self-possession and an acceptance and appreciation of their Blackness and sexuality.

KEYWORDS:

• African American
• empowerment
• resilience
• educational policy

Notes

1. Qualitative researchers often work with small sample sizes to allow for in-depth interviews, which create robust life histories.

2. Due to restrictive traditional socially constructed ideas of sexuality and what it means to be a “man,” many of the peers in high school could have been ridiculing the participants because participants' sexuality does not match ideas of a “Black man.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael D. Bartone

Michael D. Bartone, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Literacy, Elementary, and Early Childhood Education at Central Connecticut State University.