#1 - The Unboxing of a Black Girl by Angela Shanté

Just the Basics:

    Published May 7th 2024

    Genre: Poetry, Novel in verse, Vignettes  

    Pages: 135 (160 with the discussion guide at the end)

    Acknowledgements: 2025 National Book Award for Young People's Literature Finalist 

"The boxes we see, the ones we don't, and the ones we shed..."

    From Angela's own mouth, often in spoken word-- encouraging the reader to feel what she's saying, the "The Unboxing of a Black Girl" is a mosaic of Shanté's childhood in New York City in the late 90s. Told in a multitude of spoken word pieces, vignettes, haiku's, free-verse, and contrapuntal poems, Shanté illustrates the "unboxing" of her struggles as a Black girl in a White world. While this book is heavily critical of whiteness, and how systemic racism makes Black and Brown children feel continually alienated, less-than, objectified, and abused; her collection of work presents a love letter to much of the world around her: The Bronx, Hip-Hop, literature, and most of all her family (even with their complications). From the darkest moments of Shanté's adolescence, as her innocence is eroded by the adultification faced by Black girls in America, to her eventual success found in college and career, Shanté creates a safe space for other kids of color to begin their own unboxing of beliefs. She nurtures kids that think like she thought, kids who have single parent household, kids who were sexually assaulted, and kids who loved Hip-Hop and The Wiz. She encourages them to begin the lifelong process of building themselves back up after a society that marginalizes them beats them back down. 

    Why "The Unboxing of a Black Girl"?

    Honestly? My selection of this book was a bit selfish. I found this novel on the finalist list for the 2025 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, and on further research found that Shanté is a former elementary school teacher. In the Young Adult literature scene, I thought that any education experience from the author/poet could only make for a more culturally responsive, relatable, and even personable book for children to read. As I read, I found some kinship with Shanté, both being about the same age. I had lived in New York City, and loved when I had to travel uptown to the Bronx. However, the power of this book came from where I did not relate to Shanté. The experience of being Black, even more so being a Black girl, is something I as a white man can only empathize with. Shanté's voice rings out of these poems and narratives with power and clarity; where I can never truly live the same experiences described by Shanté in her works, this collection allowed me a moment to sit back, listen, and ponder the selected moments of her life and the struggles of identity she had persevered through. 

    Teaching Considerations

    "Unboxing" would be a great text choice for diverse learners of color, especially in large groups of female students. Although I think all students of high school age can gain something by allowing space for Shanté's story and perspective, I think getting Black and Brown students connected with this story would be most impactful. Often, when teachers show Black literature (especially poetry) they will limit their text selection to the Harlem Renaissance. Teaching "Unboxing" centers Black voices without just elevating voices from fifty years ago. Especially if an educator was teaching a poetry unit with emphasis on haiku, free-verse, spoken word, or contrapuntal poems (a style of poem I had never even seen before this reading), this book would be a valuable resource. This book combines contemporary topics known by the students with masterfully crafted, and very impactful, poetry and short narrative writing that encapsulates the essence of Black liberation seen in the Harlem Renaissance, without putting the entire curricular load on the back of Langston Hughes. Everything in this book, down to the use of footnotes, allows for easy access to Shanté's ideas, however never does she pull punches in her commentary, reflection, or systemic critique. 

    Poetry To Be Read Aloud

1. "I Used To Love H.I.M" - Free Verse Poem (Page 109-110)
• "I met him on the corner of blues and jazz / I let him read my poetry while he spit his scat / on Loves Migration we floated upward"
2. "Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself" - Spoken Word Piece (Page 4)
• "I was a meek girl / out of place / in my neighborhood / too soft / for the sharp edges / that outlined my world" 

    Overall Thoughts 

    This book would be a great place for high schoolers to begin to understanding how systemic racism, sexual trauma, and familial struggles can leave a lifetime of impacts. Shanté's prose and poems are both optimistic and biting, never shying away from her truth in the face of adversity of many kinds. The works of this collection link together in a way that paints a clear picture of what Shanté is trying to say. Its been a long time since I have read a poetry collection, and this book stood as a reminder that there is power in brevity, in choosing the right words, in telling the right story at the right time. Where this book need to be strong-- it is. However, there are so many moments where Shanté expresses to her readers of color (again, mostly women) that you do not need to be strong all the time. 

    Future Explorations

    I am excited to read more novels-in-verse like this one. Most of the poetry collections I have read have been anthologies, where the pieces are more of a high-light reel for the poet rather than a cohesive commentary from work to work. I found it a powerful experience to read, and most importantly to feel and understand. This book really felt like I was giving space to Black voices. My voice didn't matter, what mattered was what Shanté had to say. I am excited to read more poetry from BIPOC poets in the future, to hopefully continue this one-sided dialogue that my voice really has no place interrupting.