What Black Lives Matter means to an eleven (11) year old.

Abstract

“My Skin Is Not A Threat” is a fifth grade graduation speech given by Jolia Bossette in 2020. The speech was recorded by Vox Media as part of their ongoing reporting related to the unjustified murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others at the hands of police, and resulting protests and advocacy occuring in not only in the United States, but also around the world.

In the calendar year of 2020, the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and hundreds of other Black Americans at the hands of police officers inspired protests across the United States and around the world. The news coverage of America’s racial reckoning was impossible to ignore, and it begs the question: How are kids, especially Black kids, processing this reality? How do they make sense of these deaths and the systemic factors that made them possible? In June of 2020,11-year-old Californian Jolia Bossette decided to use her fifth-grade graduation speech as an occasion to give voice to her thoughts and feelings. In Jolia’s speech, she reminisces about how she could go from being “the cutest thing,” as a toddler and asked, “But when did I stop being cute and start being scary?” “Does my dad scare you? Does my mom scare you? Does my auntie scare you? Because let me tell you something: We are not scary.”

This is a recording of the speech 11-year-old Jolia Bossette gave at her fifth-grade graduation in June 2020

How to Cite

Publisher Notes

• This Expression in Urban Education is associated with this issues Research article entitled, "Family Stories Matter: Critical Pedagogy of Storytelling in Elementary Classrooms." Read the full research article: https://vue.metrocenter.steinhardt.nyu.edu/article/id/26/