“To Me, it Kind of Felt Normal” - Defining the Normalcy of Carcerality with Black Men, Boys, and Youth Workers

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ABSTRACT Black boys and young men come into consistent contact with the carceral state and its systems of control. In this study, I define the normalcy of carcerality as the everydayness of carceral power and control enacted on the bodies of Black children, specifically Black boys and young men. The racialized, gendered, and socioeconomic schemas of urban landscapes like Los Angeles bring young people into consistent contact with law enforcement and carceral logics rooted in punishment, control, and disposability – which is the way that communities can be punished and discarded if they do not fit within the neoliberal economy. For Black boys, the normalcy of carcerality is rooted in the omnipresence of the schemas of discipline they experience and the material and emotional impact that carcerality plays in their everyday life. Drawing upon interviews from 22 Black male youth activists, 19 interviews with youth workers who engage Black male youth, and 10 years of field notes as a community organizer working with four community-based organizations in Los Angeles, this study focuses on the carceral experiences that Black male youth activists who are working to change their relationships with state institutions through collective organizing and resistance.