d participants to study and name areality inconsistent with what might be consid-ered the norm or pervasive otherwise. A recurrenttheme of this body of work is that the narrativeand counter-narrative should be captured by theresearcher, experienced b

Tardy Sweep (see Figure 1).The students’ concern stemmed from the connota-tion to refuse and trash. Mainly, the students voicedtheir opposition to the policy as a “problematic text”in need of being confronted as voiced by Morrell (6).Students’ awareness of their absence of voice andagency in naming and making a policy further mo-tivated them into describing the situation and thepossibility of addressing it through Freirean crit-ical praxis, a methodical process for transformativechange.

“totally out ofcontrol”). Kara acknowledges the reality of her students’lives but also helps them develop urban literacies toreposition the South Side of Chicago as a place to whichviolence has been systematically done—by denyingaccess to basic necessities such as healthy food—notmerely a place where violence occurs

About the impact on her students, Kara told us inan interview, “I think this helps them with their criticalconsciousness. I don’t think they’ll walk away saying‘I won’t eat McDonald’s anymore,’ but I want them tobe able to challenge social structures, I want them tounderstand systemic racism, and I want them to be ableto see themselves as change agents.” These examplesdemonstrate Kara’s efforts to help her students criticallyexamine place and see themselves as actors in creating a“consequential geography” (Soja, 2010, p. 1), particularlyof the spaces they call

These examples resonate with Kinloch’s (2011)concept of urban literacies, including communityknowledge that may not be valued in schools or as part ofthe official curriculum. Kara’s pedagogy of spatial justicerecognized and valued the work her students do everyday to make meaning from their surroundings, as well asempowered them as actors able to interpret and perhapseven to change the places they inhab

Persistent societal images that negatively por-tray Black women and girls have contributed tonormalcy and the mosaic of Whiteness as pure andinnocent while Blackness is seen as inhumane orrepresenting death. Black girls are often character-ized as Jezebels, Sapphires, aggressive, or sexualizedto the point that they are deprived of having any in-tellectual currency and curiosity

Englishlanguage arts provides a space for Black women andgirls to express themselves or to find solace in theshared lived experiences of Black women and girls.However, this is impossible if the texts used to ed-ucate Black women and girls are void of their livedexperiences, beliefs, and cultural norms

Then I overcorrected. Instead ofan all-white lineup, I taught almostall African American literature,which was an improvement, butstill problematic. When one studentin class tallied up all of the races inclass and suggested I teach by thepercentages present, I realized I hadonce again erred. As an Asian American, she wantedto be included. And then there was the graduate whoreturned and chided me for not preparing her with any“traditional” literature

is was evidentin the media’s coverage of Micah Xavier Johnson, the Dallas shooter whokilled five police officers. Because Johnson was Black and was upset overthe deaths of Black men at the hands of police, several media outlets linkedJohnson’s violent act to the Black Lives Matter organization in an effort toframe the group as anti-police

Conversely, the mediaare careful about how they represent White criminals, usually portrayingthem sympathetically. This more nuanced portrayal was evident in the caseof Adam Lanza and James Holmes, both young White males who were re-sponsible for mass shootings. Many of the headlines in the media describedthe killers as “quiet,” “smart,” “nice,” and “typical American Boy[s].” Bycontrast, Black people—suspects or not—are often not given these sameconsiderations

In other words,the same racist brutality toward Black citizens that we see happening on thestreets across the United States mirrors the violence toward Black studentsthat is happening in our nation’s academic streets.

“If that girl got out of the seat when she was told, there’d be no problem.But apparently she had no respect for the school, no respect for her teacher,probably has no respect at home or on the street, and that’s why she actedthe way she did” (“She Had No Respect,” 2015). Rather than seeing the girlas the victim, Houck faulted her for the attack, which is troublesome butunsurprising, given mainstream media’s coverage of brutality against Blackbodies.

his relationship between the collective and individual experiencesof trauma provides a lens for teachers and researchers to consider the vary-ing ways that members of classroom communities are positioned in theaftermath of the election. Any sense of shared pain and fear post-electionthat was shared by many or most in their schools must then be coupled withawareness of the different stakes for individuals and groups in what has andwill continue to unfold over the coming years.

The fundamental rolethat SEL plays in classrooms hints at a broader consideration: What does itmean to matter (or #matter) in this world? In this way, SEL must addresswhat it means to cultivate belonging in a broken world. Far more expan-sive than developing students’ emotional skills, English educators and thechildren, youth, and families with whom they work must help remake andrepair the world

Teachers across career trajectories haveraised questions about how to help students cope with the lasting traumaleading up to and following the election alongside teachers’ aching spirits.English educators need support in addressing the emotional dimensions ofteaching and learning in punctual moments like these, but also in the dayto day of classroom routines and relationships.