The African American Urban Male's Journey to Success by Goedert Mead;

Author:Goedert, Mead;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Comics helped Bobby enjoy a fantasy getaway from the harsh relational world in which he was engrossed at school, and they also helped him find an imagined connectedness with others who shared his same experiences.

Bobby found a particular identification with the X-Men because the experiences portrayed in the comics matched his reality. He explains, “My favorite comic book series is Uncannny X-Men because of all the mutants . . . It’s what I was going through. It’s people not liking you . . . ‘Go home, Mutie!’” This fantasy world helped him unconsciously defend against the psychic pain he felt resulting from being othered, but it also gave him a new “home” full of similar “others.” In his fantasy, he was able to connect with characters who experienced the same pain he felt. Their relational connection was the sameness of being different. The connectedness he felt in fantasy was converted into connections with similar others in reality when he entered college.

In college, he felt like he finally fit in. He felt a strong connection with the black community at Michigan State University and felt like he could “reinvent” himself. He was able to explore who he was and feel connected with others without having to battle the onslaught of racial othering and resultant psychic injuries. Bobby’s experiences with racism obviously did not disappear after his early school years. Once he was connected with more African Americans, however, he seemed to feel a communal strength and sense of himself that was more solid than when he was the “only black kid in school.”

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