ABSTRACTTIFFANY NICOLE HOLLIS. Exploring the role of spoken word as a tool of resistance to buffer racialized experiences of black males in academic and social contexts. (Under the direction of DR. CHANCE W. LEWIS)My research and scholarship is part of a growing body of work in the fields of critical pedagogy and critical youth studies research that is looking at how Black males make sense of the realities that they encounter daily, in school and in society as a Black male. Using Critical Race Theory, this study looked at how participation in a community-based spoken word poetry program is a coping mechanism for Black males who encounter racialized experiences in school and in society. I worked with seven Black male youth at a local spoken word community-based empowerment center in an urban area in the Southeastern United States. This study explored how Black male youth negotiate and reframe their identities, center their voices, and make sense of their everyday lived experiences, particularly racialized experiences in school and in society through artistic expression, specifically spoken word poetry. The students participated in interviews and wrote poems based on their lived experiences. This study underscores what it means for Black male youth who exist in such institutions; and explains why spoken word culture, for many Black male youth, has in many ways (for better and worse) replaced the pedagogical void left vacant by the traditional culture of urban public schools. The findings showed that spoken word can serve as a buffer and a coping mechanism against microaggressions, discriminatory incidents, and other forms of racism in school and in society. Recommendations for educational stakeholders and for future research are discussed.