To be Free

A Black Male Educator’s Quest & The Shared Intellectual Dilemma of Baldwin, DuBois, and Wright

Abstract

What common attributes exist among James Baldwin, W.E.B DuBois, and Richard Wright? A myriad for some and a sparse number of commonalities for others might spring forth in one's mind. This paper will explore the notion of engaging in a particular kind of freedom. A type of freedom that renders one detached from the entangled vestiges of the institution of slavery in the United States and the deleterious multi-generational effects of such on the descendants of the formerly enslaved. There is a particular kind of freedom that the three prominent intellectuals noted above pursued that can only be experienced through the complete and total departure of one’s physical body from the nation where the crime of slavery took place, thereby creating a legacy of chattel bondage and the historical remnants of such. In this paper, I use the currere theoretical method to deeply examine aspects of my more than twenty years in education as a Black male educator—also known as one of the approximately 2% of Black male educators in the field. This currere-oriented narrative prioritizes what Poetter refers to as a focus on the curriculum fragments or small bits of memories that continue to influence the thinking/acting and personal/professional life binaries.