Current conceptualizations of trauma-informed practice in urban education spaces fail to center the strengths of Black youth, nor do they interrogate the role of schools in causing trauma. In partnership with an elementary-aged participatory Student Advisory Board, this article explores the both/and of strengths and school-based trauma for 11 Black elementary youth. Through narrative analysis coupled with student art and poetry, findings highlight the normative nature of Black brilliance (Gholson et al., 2012). Additionally, for Black youth specifically, school-based trauma can also be thought of as connected to race-based trauma or racial trauma. Future work is needed to flesh out a model for both understanding the impact of racial school-based trauma and interrogating the way systemic racism and structural inequality generate school conditions where all types of trauma occur. Findings underscore the importance of situating strengths and school-based trauma together to promote a more comprehensive view of trauma, especially as it relates to liberatory trauma-informed educational practice in urban contexts.