Negotiating multiple identities while gifted: Reflections from black queer gifted men

Abstract

In the last decade, there has been increasing research on the identity formation and experiences of Black queer men on college campuses (Mitchell & Means, 2014; Harris, 2003; Patton, 2011; Strayhorn et al., 2008, Goode-Cross & Good, 2008). However, there is scant research examining how these layered identities develop for students who are not only Black and gay, but also gifted, during their K-12 education. Through the reflections of four Black queer men who attended gifted programing in New York City for their K-12 education, this study’s findings begin to unpack these negotiations. This work centers Mitchell & Means’ (2014) conception of quadruple consciousness for understanding the experiences of Black gay and bisexual men in predominantly white colleges. It is also theoretically framed by Whiting’s scholar identity model (2006). The findings speak to how participants were able to achieve and persist in gifted education programing with particular attention paid to notions of masculinity, while navigating early experiences as Black queer students.

Keywords:

• Black queer men
• black gifted education
• gifted students of color
• queer students of color

Notes

1 For this paper, I use the word queer to not only encapsulate the wide range of expression that participants use to describe their sexuality but to engage with the idea that high school aged youth may not formally identify with being gay.

2 In this work, you will find that I use male, men, and/or boy interchangeably. This is a result of using the language described by participants, my own self identification, and the descriptions used in the literature that I engaged with. All four participants in the study were male identifying at the time of their gifted experience.

3 One of the participants in the sample for this paper, Bacchae, is a transgender Jamaican woman.

4 A Better Chance is and organization founded in 1963 that aims to “help talented students of color and their families access and succeed in first-class college preparatory education, and to form a support network that can help them throughout their lives.” They work they do, mainly through their College Preparatory Schools Program (CPSP), works to place scholars at Independent Day Schools, Independent Boarding Schools, and Community Day Schools around the country.