No One Can Arrest Our Dreams

Book excerpt: A narrative inquiry into the lives of three men, Robert, Raheem, and Warren, this book shares their stories about over-discipline in school, adverse teacher-student relationships, and violent community policing that proceeded and intersected with their involvement in the criminal justice system. After being incarcerated, the men restored their dreams through the same structure that helped remove them from society—the education system. This book critically analyzes the school policies and individual practices that inflict educational harm upon the lives of students who experience criminalization, disengagement, and lack connectedness and a sense of belonging at school. The narratives center the voices of three men who describe how home environments and educational policies and practices structure schools into locations where Black and other minoritized students are forced to survive. Their stories help examine how criminalized experiences—school removal and incarceration—intersect with historical and social factors that create anti-Black practices in schools and communities. These narrative accounts are critical pedagogical tools for those who work with Black, Latinx, low-income, and other minoritized youth. Readers will have a more in-depth understanding about how Black males experience schools, neighborhoods, and the world. This volume will appeal to teachers and teacher educators in K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. More specifically, faculty in programs that lead to elementary, middle, and secondary education certifications can incorporate the stories into courses around cultural diversity, equity and inclusion, social justice, and humanizing pedagogies. Community organizations can use the narrative accounts to create spaces for transformative conversations that aim to improve school and community policing practices.