This article presents a qualitative dialogic poetic response in the form of a critical social justice inquiry circle and a critical reading of Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds as poetry and as an intentional gesture of listening as activism. This discourse is one of resistance to the acritical/apolitical nature of schooling and to prepare hegemonic/White educators to become culturally responsive (ala Milner) and to devise a new critical methodology, we embark on this radical proposition. Our use of critical social justice inquiry circles using poetic dialogue is inspired by Denzin’s conception of Critical Performance Pedagogy.
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