Roberto Germán [00:00:01]:
Welcome to Our Classroom. In this space, we talk about education, which is inclusive of but not limited to what happens in schools. Education is taking place whenever and wherever we are willing to learn. I am your host, Roberto Germán, and our classroom is officially in session. Welcome back to our classroom, reporting live from the mile High city of Denver, Colorado. Today, I want to speak directly to something close to my heart. The way we see and serve boys of color. Not in theory, not in data, but in the humanity of who they are and who they're becoming.
Roberto Germán [00:00:48]:
I was supposed to present a session today called Boldly Serving Boys of Color at the NCTE annual convention, the National Council of Teachers of English. Unfortunately, the session got canceled, but I want to bring the heart of that work right here to the podcast. Because whether you're a teacher, parent, mentor, coach, or community builder, this conversation belongs to all of us. Boys of color walk into the classrooms carrying stories. Beautiful stories, heavy stories, complex stories. Yet too often, schools see everything except the humanity in front of them. They get labeled before they get listened to, discipline before they get understood, measured before they get met. And my goal today is simple.
Roberto Germán [00:01:37]:
To help us see them better, love them better, teach them better. In my presentations, I often begin with a poem about anger, because anger is an emotion boys of color are punished for expressing. We treat anger as misbehavior instead of communication, but anger is a signal. Something needs tending, something needs listening, something needs naming. Poetry gives boys a place to hold emotions they don't yet have. Language for. In your classroom, that might look like journaling. In your home, that might look like conversation.
Roberto Germán [00:02:21]:
In your program, that might look like storytelling. Emotion needs a container, not a consequence. Last year, I worked with students at Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School in Methuen, Massachusetts, and a particular student comes to mind. Jose Reyes, whose voice stayed with me. He said hearing my story helped him tell his own. He said it changed how he thought about writing in emotion. That's what happens when boys are invited to bring their full selves into the room. So sometimes the loudest boys are asking to be seen.
Roberto Germán [00:02:59]:
Sometimes the quietest boys are waiting for permission to speak. Boys of color are not confused. They are complex. They are bilingual, multilingual, multicultural, layered, whole. Too often, the system asks them to shrink or silence pieces of who they are. Our job isn't to simplify them. It's to honor the fullness of their identity. If we want to boldly serve boys of color, here are three commitments I invite educators to adopt the first.
Roberto Germán [00:03:40]:
Love as high expectations. Lower expectations is not love. It's abandonment. Love holds structure, challenge, inconsistency. So let's love with high expectations. Secondly, center their humanity. Please, please, please center their humanity. Don't just view what we're doing as teaching content.
Roberto Germán [00:04:10]:
We don't just teach content. We teach people. Writing and storytelling are lifelines, not assignments. So center the humanity. Third. Third, consideration. Interrupt deficit narratives. Yes, folks, let's interrupt.
Roberto Germán [00:04:32]:
Let's disrupt that. Change your language, please. Change your lens, please. And look, I've been guilty of this. All right? So holding up the mirror here, you know, we'll say stuff like, he's defiant, but have we considered, what is he defending? We'll say he's unmotivated. Have we considered who helped him see why this matters? We cannot build healthy relationships from harmful narratives. So interrupt deficit narratives. In the session that I was going to lead today, I was going to have a moment of call and response, and, you know, I'll just bring it here to this space.
Roberto Germán [00:05:17]:
Can y'. All. Y' all rock with me for a little bit? When boys of color bring their truth into the room, our job is to make space. That's you. Make space. Make space. See, space isn't passive. It's intentional.
Roberto Germán [00:05:33]:
For many boys of color, survival is the bar. But thriving, that requires us. Our belief, our presence, our advocacy. We hold power. Power to what? Power to nurture? Power to uplift? Power to see? Power to believe. That's sacred work. For real, for real. So I just wanted to get that off real quick.
Roberto Germán [00:06:05]:
All right? I sped through that because there's more work to do tomorrow. But if this conversation spoke to you, I want to invite you to go deeper. Teaching truth. Lead with courage. Belong to a community that gets it. Listen, we're launching My Classroom Gold, the community of educators committed to equity, truth, and impact. If you want to support, come through. All right? You need resources.
Roberto Germán [00:06:38]:
You want to build community. You need a space where you don't have to explain the basics before doing the work. This is the room. So become a founding member. Go to multiculturalclassroom.com/founding-member. All right. Hey, Share this episode with someone who. Who serves boys of color.
Roberto Germán [00:06:58]:
Follow us at Multicultural Classroom and join my classroom gold and build alongside us. We're building community, not just content. Peace. Peace. Peace. Until next time, you already know. Keep leading, Keep loving, keep learning. As always, your engagement in our classroom is greatly appreciated.
Roberto Germán [00:07:20]:
Be sure to subscribe, rate the show, and write a review. Finally, for resources to help you understand the this section of race, bias, education, and society, go to multiculturalclassroom.com Peace. And love from your host, Roberto Germán.
