“The Poetry of the Future”: Black Anarchism, Abolition, and an Imagined Future for Critical Black Education

Rachel McMillian; Reginald BoClair

doi:10.14288/ce.v16i2.186985

“The Poetry of the Future”

Black Anarchism, Abolition, and an Imagined Future for Critical Black Education

Authors

Rachel McMillian University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Reginald BoClair Northeastern Illinois University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v16i2.186985

Keywords:

Black anarchy, abolition, Black education, critical education, incarceration

Abstract

Discussions of Black anarchism are rarely, if ever, found in the fields of educational theory and research. Characterizations of Black anarchism often paint it as a philosophy and praxis to be feared—as a movement that promotes violence and chaos. Yet, as the authors of this piece argue, Black anarchism is exactly the opposite: promoting a vision of a world that is free from the control of the State, absent of white supremacy and capitalism, and anchored in radical community care. Therefore, drawing from the rich lineage of Black anarchist thought, the imprisoned Black radical tradition, and abolition; the authors present an invitation for educators to utilize Black anarchism as a lens for curriculum, pedagogy, and praxis. This conceptual piece aims to not only demystify the concept of Black anarchy within the field of education, but points to the radical promises inherent within Black anarchy during the most recent, intense attacks on critical Black education within the United States.

Author Biographies

Rachel McMillian, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Rachel McMillian is an assistant professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As a curriculum theorist and educational researcher, her work broadly explores two intersecting avenues: Black Education and Critical Prison Studies. More specifically–through counter storytelling–she focuses on 1) the schooling and educational experiences of Black people who were incarcerated as children/youth and, 2) Black liberatory education and curriculum that occurs within spaces of confinement and enclosure. Her interdisciplinary scholarship is inspired by her years of experience as a social studies teacher, her relationships and work with both formerly and currently incarcerated people, and her lived experiences as someone directly impacted by mass incarceration.

Reginald BoClair, Northeastern Illinois University

Reginald BoClair is an incarcerated multimedia artist in the literary, visual, and the performative arts. He is a son of Chicago and a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University's University Without Walls program, earning a bachelor's degree in Restorative Arts with a focus on “African-Centered Transformative Justice Public Education” (ACTJE). As a writer, thinker, teacher, and poet, he is dedicated to understanding both the law and African-centered approaches to social transformation. Through his work, he explores such topics as abolition, Black feminism, Black anarchism, violence, and gender studies, all while continuing to fight for his physical freedom.

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Published

2025-04-30

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2025)

Section

Teaching in Contentious Times: Black Consciousness, History Education, and Policy

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