Drawing on interviews that span over seven years, Derrick R. Brooms provides detailed accounts of a select group of Black young men's pathways from secondary school through college. As opposed to the same old stories about young Black men, Brooms offers new narratives that speak to Black boys' and young men's agency, aspirations, hopes, and possibilities. Even as they feel contested and constrained because they are Black and male, these young men anchor their educational desires within their families and communities. Critical to their journeys are the many challenges they face in public discourse and societal projections, in their home neighborhoods and schooling community, in educational environments, and in their health and well-being. In charting these challenges and the high stakes of the trials, lessons, and triumphs they experience, Brooms shows that we cannot understand the educational journeys of Black boys and young men without accounting for the full sociocultural contexts of their lives and how they make sense of those contexts.

AcknowledgmentsPrefacean invocation . . . for Black young menIntroduction1. "They don't give us a chance to be us": Black Boys' Sense Making and Theorizing about Their LivesPart I: Secondary School Experiences2. "I needed to get out": Educational Desires and the Urban Neighborhood3. "I always knew that I was smart": Personal Perspectives and Educational Pursuits4. "Getting the preparation and knowledge about college": Schooling and College-Going SupportPart II: Collegiate Experiences5. "I knew I was gon' struggle": Stories and Expectations of College Struggles6."I never wanted to give up, but . . .": Navigating and Coping with Challenging Experiences7. "I didn't have no Plan B": Staying Focused on Collegiate Goals8. "I'm creating my own story": Young Black Men Enacting and Embodying AgencyPart III: Lessons9. "Sometimes the odds are just stacked against you": Reassessing the Challenges That Make Education High-Stakes10. Looking Forward: Addressing the Stakes for Black Boys and Young MenAppendixNotesReferencesIndex