Bad Boy: A Memoir

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What do you know about the Harlem Renaissance? Can you name any writers associated with it?

Teaching Suggestion: Myers grew up in Harlem after the heyday of the Harlem Renaissance—a revival of African American art in the 1920s and 30s—and did not truly learn about his community’s history until much later in life. However, he did meet the writer most famously associated with the Harlem Renaissance: Langston Hughes. Students may also have heard of Zora Neale Hurston, another widely read figure from the era. Use this prompt to get students thinking about being Black in midcentury America and the importance of Black role models in the formation of identity and voice.

• “An Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance”: Poetry Foundation compilation of major works from the Harlem Renaissance, with accompanying commentary
• “A New African American Identity: The Harlem Renaissance”: an overview of the movement’s history and significance, from the National Museum of African American History and Culture “Our American Story” series

2. Can you think of any famous figures (historical or contemporary) who were adopted? Try to name two to three.

Teaching Suggestion: Myers, though not formally adopted, grows up with his biological father’s first wife and her second husband, and he considers them his parents. His complex family ties inform the development of his identity; for example, as a teenager, he is curious about whether he physically resembles his biological parents and siblings. Use this prompt to spark discussion about the nature of parent-child relationships.

• “Who Am I? Adopted Individuals’ Identity is Based in Adoptive and Birth Family Relationships”: 2014 Communication Currents article by professors Colleen Warner Colaner and Danielle Halliwell

Short Activity

Watch this brief, silent documentary about life in 1940s East Harlem. As you do, jot down your impressions of both the images and the film as a whole. What kind of portrait does the film offer of the neighborhood? What do you think its purpose was?

Teaching Suggestion: Myers offers several vivid descriptions of life in 1940s and 50s Harlem that pair well with this documentary, which emphasizes the neighborhood’s children. Encourage students to think not only about the content of the images—i.e., what they suggest about midcentury Harlem as a community, what it might have been like to live there as a Black American, etc.—but also about the documentary’s framing and intent.

• “Harlem”: Britannica entry on the neighborhood’s history
• “A Walk Through Harlem, New York’s Most Storied Neighborhood”: 2020 New York Times article and interview by Michael Kimmelman featuring architect David Adjaye’s reflections on the neighborhood