Young People Of Color Research Articles

Protect the Children, Body and Soul

This paper critically examines American schooling systems, challenges their subtractive nature, and juxtaposes it with the culturally sustaining potential of education. We problematize the current tools for evaluating trauma and stress in young people of color and emphasize the need for a comprehensive understanding of indigenous medicines as a remedy. Drawing on interdisciplinary theories, we elucidate the pervasive and evolving nature of anti-blackness, reinforcing the sociohistorical structure of inequity within schools. As a response, this study presents a unique wellness survey (comprising two newly validated wellness scales) developed from a previous four-year longitudinal study investigating the relationship between culturally relevant teaching practices and improved health outcomes for children. We found a strong correlation between exposure to our culturally relevant intervention and several health indicators. Particularly, sustained telomere growth (protection of cells) was observed in over 90% of the participants in the intervention group, indicating a potential biological mechanism through which culturally informed interventions might contribute to improved health outcomes. We use these findings to argue that proactive measures centered on cultural and community contexts can serve as crucial protective factors, thereby potentially mitigating negative health outcomes related to racialized stress.

Impact of Racist Microaggressions and LGBTQ-Related Minority Stressors: Effects on Psychological Distress Among LGBTQ+ Young People of Color.

College students situated at the nexus of racial and sexual and gender minority (SGM) identities may experience multiple identity-related oppressions. We assessed whether racist microaggressions and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ)-related minority stressors (ie, family rejection, identity concealment, racialized heterosexism and/or cisgenderism, internalized LGBTQ-phobia, and victimization) are associated with greater psychological distress among SGM college students of color (SOC) (students who identified as Hispanic/Latinx and/or any nonwhite race). Participants were a subset of SOC (n = 200) from a larger nonprobability cross-sectional study of SGM college students. Participants were recruited by using online social media platforms and university email listserves from May through August 2020. Participants completed an online Qualtrics survey using previously validated measures of minority stress, racist microaggressions, and psychological distress. Simple and covariate-adjusted multiple linear regression models were used to examine the associations between racist microaggressions and LGBTQ-related minority stressors with psychological distress. In simple linear regression models, racist microaggressions and all LGBTQ-related stressors (ie, family rejection, identity concealment, racialized heterosexism and/or cisgenderism, internalized LGBTQ-phobia, and victimization) were significantly and positively associated with greater psychological distress. In covariate-adjusted multiple linear regression, racist microaggressions, internalized LGBTQ-phobia, and LGBTQ-related family rejection (but not identity concealment, racialized heterosexism and/or cisgenderism, and victimization) were independently and significantly associated with greater psychological distress. Study findings reveal that racist microaggressions, along with LGBTQ-related family rejection and internalized LGBTQ-phobia, have a significant impact on psychological distress among SGM SOC. Public health leaders have an important opportunity for policy and program development and reform to address the identity-related mental health needs of SGM SOC.

Novel Wayfinding: LitLabs and the Activism of Place

If advanced high school English classrooms remain some of the few spaces where young people, especially young people of color, might read the Victorian novel, what opportunities for political work might we expect, innovate, demand from those encounters? Drawing from experiences directing LitLabs, immersive, site-specific, design-based approaches to studying literature with South LA teens, the author argues for expanding the geographies literary works reference to include readers’ embodiment in place so that Victorian studies can strengthen and nurture a sense of place for readers often displaced by engagements with the Western literary canon. The essay traces the conflicted, but rewarding, processes for reading literature with an agenda for placekeeping, as one avenue for producing a self-affirming communal consciousness among readers as users of urban space. The essay turns to David Copperfield, where a typical mode of individualized, absorptive reading is contrasted to LitLabs’ model of “emplaced reading” through its adaptations of a core urban humanities “fused practice” of thick-mapping.

Interrogating the Myths of Education: Dorothy Bryant'sElla Price's JournalandMiss Giardino

Interrogating the Myths of Education: Dorothy Bryant's<i>Ella Price's Journal</i>and<i>Miss Giardino</i>

Young adults of color, urban divestment and political socialization in neighborhoods

ABSTRACT While urban inequalities are well studied and understood by scholars, less is known about how these inequalities are localized within a neighborhood context, especially among young adults of color who are most susceptible to the effects of these inequalities. In this paper, we argue that in order to better understand the political development of young adults by race and ethnicity, more attention should be given to how local neighborhoods frame experiences of divestment and racial inequality in a city. Drawing from a large-scale, interview-based study with 160 young adults, we find that neighborhood context is a critically important space for understanding how young people of color are politicized as they transition into adulthood. We argue that neighborhoods are mini publics within a broader city that both exacerbate urban and racial inequalities and yet also serve as spaces for political development and innovation among young adults.

Youth Experiences Through The Journey Of Resiliency

Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, there have been an innumerable amount of distress on the lives of others. Among the many populations impacted are students of color who have experienced many difficulties with balancing their personal lives and education. This study is dedicated to exploring the experiences of students of color in an institution of higher education (HBCU) Historically, young people of color have been regarded as a marginalized population in the realm of education. Therefore, this chapter provides an in-depth view using qualitative methodology to: (a) better understand the complexity and challenges faced during the pandemic for this population; and (b) gain insight about their overall lived experiences. As students of color in higher education, preliminary analysis shows that many have had to face a myriad of obstacles including, but not limited to, adjustments in academic learning technological challenges, experiences of family casualties, personal bouts with surviving COVID-19, and economic challenges to name a few. . Despite these aforementioned barriers contributing to the unbalanced impact of COVID-19 as it relates to issues of equity and justice for communities of color, many students demonstrated a level of resilience that should be immensely commended. Therefore, when sampling students of color at HBCUs impacted by the global pandemic, emphasis is placed on their stories of resiliencies and unprecedented experiences, post COVID-19 instructional experiences, as well as personal life experiences. This study is deemed important because learning takes place over a lifespan and in the field of academia, despite challenges, the word “resilience” should be at the forefront and in the minds of our students of color as it relates to the unbalanced impact of the global pandemic.

Youth Experiences Through the Journey of Resiliency

Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an innumerable amount of distress on the lives of others. Among the many populations impacted are students of color who have experienced many difficulties with balancing their personal lives and education. This study is dedicated to exploring the experiences of students of color in an institution of higher education (HBCU) Historically, young people of color have been regarded as a marginalized population in the realm of education. Therefore, this chapter provides an in-depth view using qualitative methodology to: (a) better understand the complexity and challenges faced during the pandemic for this population; and (b) gain insight into their overall lived experiences. As students of color in higher education, preliminary analysis shows that many have had to face a myriad of obstacles including, but not limited to, adjustments in academic learning technological challenges, experiences of family casualties, personal bouts with surviving COVID-19, and economic challenges to name a few. Despite these aforementioned barriers contributing to the unbalanced impact of COVID-19 as it relates to issues of equity and justice for communities of color, many students demonstrated a level of resilience that should be immensely commended. Therefore, when sampling students of color at HBCUs impacted by the global pandemic, emphasis is placed on their stories of resiliencies and unprecedented experiences, post COVID-19 instructional experiences, as well as personal life experiences. This study is deemed important because learning takes place over a lifespan and in the field of academia, despite challenges, the word “resilience” should be at the forefront and in the minds of our students of color as it relates to the unbalanced impact of the global pandemic. .

Examination of Race and Autism Intersectionality Among African American/Black Young Adults.

African American/Black (AA/B) young adults with diagnoses of autism spectrum disorders rarely are studied in a way that acknowledges both their racial identity and their autism diagnosis. Little is known about intersectional oppression in the lives of these young adults. Early adulthood is a time when a young people of color may come to terms with a society that may not treat them fairly and equally due to their race. Autistic AA/B young adults may be even more vulnerable to stress and psychological disempowerment due to the added impact of negative experiences of being Black and having an autism diagnosis. Thirty-two autistic and 30 non-autistic AA/B young adults took part in an online survey examining risk factors of everyday discrimination, perceived stress and potential protective factors of psychological empowerment, and Black identity. Differences in score measures for the autistic and non-autistic samples were examined along with the predictors of perceived stress assessed. Frequencies of intersectional discrimination experiences were also examined. Autistic AA/B participants reported significantly less everyday discriminatory experiences than non-autistic AA/B participants, whereas perceived stress was not significantly different between the two groups. The majority of non-autistic AA/B participants endorsed race as their prime source of experiences of discrimination, whereas autistic AA/B participants also cited being autistic as a major contributor to reports of discrimination. Although the autistic group had significantly lower reports of self-determination, they reported higher on the Black identity, private regard scale, pertaining to feelings about group membership, which can be considered a protective factor. There is heterogeneity in reasons for discriminatory experiences for autistic AA/B young adults whereby some of the participants (12%-30%) endorsed race + disability as dual reasons for experiencing regular discrimination. Mental health clinicians and other direct service providers working with autistic AA/B young adults should understand that intersecting identities of race and disability may be at play when they are working with these individuals, and that treatment should consider these factors.

Enhancing Education and Career Pathways Through Peer and Near-Peer Social Capital

Social capital strengthens emerging adults’ ability to reach life goals, but little is known about how peers and near-peers (slightly older and/or more experienced peers who serve in mentorship or coaching roles) support social capital development especially among young people of color. To address this gap, the current study examined how social capital derived from peers and near-peers contributes to emerging adults’ ability to actively mobilize social capital in pursuit of their education or career goals (i.e., self-initiated social capital) and, in turn, their education and career outcomes. A total of 841 emerging adults who participated in one of five community-based education and/or workforce support programs were surveyed (72% female; Mage = 20.1, SD = 1.84; 35% Latinx, 30% Black, 19% Asian, 16% Other). Peer social capital was indirectly associated with outcomes (i.e., progress towards education/career goals, commitment to paying-it-forward, collective efficacy to change systems) via greater self-initiated social capital, whereas near-peer social capital was both directly and indirectly associated with outcomes. The mechanisms by which peer and near-peer social capital support emerging adults as they work towards their goals may differ and have important program implications.

Black Lives Matter on Screen: Trauma of Witnessing Police Brutality in Contemporary American Cinema

In the years following the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, American cinema was looking for a way to appropriately address the issue of police brutality against people of color. Filmmakers, often inspired by real-life events, began developing stories focused on the trauma of witnessing lethal police violence. Three films released in 2018 – Blindspotting (dir. Carlos López Estrada), Monsters and Men (dir. Reinaldo Marcus Green) and The Hate U Give (dir. George Tillman Jr.)– emphasize how the aftermath of such experiences affects young people of color and their communities. This article aims to explore the role of witness testimony in trauma-centered narratives and examine how the contemporary American cinema visualizes racial trauma. To achieve that, the films will be analyzed within the context of trauma studies, including theories regarding both individual and cultural trauma. Moreover, studies focused on the socialization of Black children will help demonstrate the transgenerational impact of trauma. All three films share common motifs: they represent the psychosomatic aspects of trauma through similar cinematic techniques and see value in witness testimony, even if it requires personal sacrifices from the protagonists. They also portray parents’ worry about their children’s future within a prejudiced system and the struggle to prepare them for it. All these issues have been previously addressed in the public and academic discourse and are now being reflected in cinema. Film proves to be a suitable medium for representing trauma of witnessing police brutality and cinema will most likely remain a vital part of the debate about dismantling racist systems for years to come.

Hair-Loss Perceptions and Treatment Expectations in Young People of Color.

While much research has been dedicated to hair loss in older patients, little has addressed hair loss perception and treatment expectations among young people of color (POC). This study evaluates disease perceptions, willingness to utilize specific therapies, and treatment expectations in younger versus older POC with any form of hair loss. An online survey was utilized to analyze 217 responses to 37 questions assessing perceptions of hair loss, hair care practices, and treatment expectations among others. These parameters were measured on a 1&ndash;5 Likert scale. Comparison between groups was be done using Chi-Square tests for proportions and Student t-tests. Included were 52 respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 (POC&lt;30), and 36 respondents greater than 30 years of age (POC&gt;30). The reported average hair loss in POC&lt;30 was 67.0%, compared to POC&gt;30 reporting 60.0% (P&lt;0.05). Average embarrassment was 2.6 for POC&lt;30 versus 3.4 for POC&gt;30 (P&lt;0.001). Average pain was 2.0 for POC&lt;30 versus 1.8 for POC&gt;30 (P&lt;0.05). Average hair thinning was 3.0 for POC&lt;30 versus 3.7 for POC&gt;30 (P&lt;0.001). Average willingness to use topical treatments including creams, solutions, ointments, and gels was 3.0 in POC&lt;30 versus 3.8 in POC&gt;30 (P&lt;0.001). The average perceived effectiveness of topical treatments was 2.9 in POC&lt;30 versus 3.6 in POC&gt;30 (P&lt;0.01). Early identification and appropriate management of young POC with hair loss may facilitate follicular rescue. This, in turn, may help reduce the negative consequences of advanced hair loss, such as embarrassment, as seen in older POC. J Drugs Dermatol. 2021;20(7):746-750. doi:10.36849/JDD.5960.

Normative Sexual Health Development in Non-Normative Circumstances: Exploring Healthy Intimate Relationships Among Young People in Foster Care

While the sexual health risks among young people of color in foster care have been well-documented, healthy sexual development in this population has been less examined. The current study explored the experiences of Black youth in foster care and the factors that influenced their safer sex practices. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 18 sexually active Black participants (18–22 years old) in foster care from a large, Midwestern city in the United States. Grounded theory methods were used to (a) construct a conceptual framework illustrating the conditions the youth experienced that influenced their safer sex efforts, and (b) describe different types of intimate relationships that reflected their sexual health practices. Using specific strategies, the majority of the youth overcame obstacles and participated in positive sexual health practices. More than half (59%) reported they were in an intimate relationship for at least 6 months and either abstained from sex, used condoms 100% of the time, or employed safer sex methods. The findings suggest Black youth in state care can engage in positive sexual health practices and form healthy intimate relationships.

What Racism Has to Do with It: Understanding and Reducing Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Youth of Color.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are high in populations of color compared to Whites. High-risk sexual behaviors are widely viewed as the key contributors to the levels of STDs, especially in adolescents and young adults. This article situates the sexual risk behaviors of Black, Indigenous, and other young people of color within the framework of racism. It begins with an overview of racial inequities in common STDs and shows how racism gives rise to several risk factors for high-risk sexual behaviors. These risk factors for STDs identified in prior research are best understood as adaptations to the challenges and constraints faced by youth in socially disadvantaged environments. Both social adversity and the mental health problems that it triggers can lead to risky sexual behaviors. Drawing on findings from prior research with youth of color, this paper describes the needed interventions that can markedly reduce STDs and their risk factors. It also describes needed research on interventions that could contribute to the knowledge and understanding of the adverse conditions fueled by racism that affect youth of color, their health, and their communities.

Third Places, Social Capital, and Sense of Community as Mechanisms of Adaptive Responding for Young People Who Experience Social Marginalization.

Many young people who experience social marginalization (such as young people of color, who identify as LGBTQ, and who have experienced housing instability, among others) have often faced significant trauma exposure and social oppression and may endure subsequent adverse impacts on their well-being. Conversely, many such young people exhibit adaptive responding-the ability to maintain well-being through and despite such contextual constraints. This theoretical paper illustrates a conceptual model for how third places-public settings which offer sociability and community connection-may foster adaptive responding through the mutually constitutive (i.e., mutually reinforcing and interrelated) mechanisms of psychological sense of community and social capital. As prior work on third places has not considered the social marginalization which many young people face, especially in public settings, this theoretical model also considers how social policing in third places potentially moderates the mutually constitutive relationships between participation in third places, social capital, and psychological sense of community. This paper ends with a proposed research agenda, which may empirically test this theoretical model and its assumptions through future model development. Lastly, key considerations for policy and practice are offered, with particular attention to how young people may be affirmed and welcomed in third places rather than socially policed.

Emerging Tensions: The Variances and Silences in Survey Research with Youth

In the process of organizing to build power through mobilizing young people against displacement from school pushouts, we observed ways in which low-income youth of color have internalized negative ideas about themselves and their communities and how they collectively challenge those ideas. Using Critical Race Theory and critical whiteness studies as a framework, we identify some of the ideologies that we observed in our survey research with youth. Drawing on examples from two youth survey projects that we participated in, this paper considers what young people of color thought they deserved as public goods in spaces that have been racialized under a white neoliberal logic albeit in schooling or community spaces. We then discuss our findings to demonstrate how these ideologies create tensions that must be considered when conducting survey research including any form of YPAR and organizing.

Leading With Youth of Color: Organizing for Educational Change

In the United States, young people of color are under attack. The school-to-prison pipeline, poverty, and racism are some of the systems of oppression that young people of color navigate. The challenging conditions that youth of color face have historically been met by their powerful resistance. Young people of color have fought for educational equity for decades. In the community in which this research study was situated, social justice youth development (SJYD) workers supported youth as they resisted unjust educational policies. I set out to answer the research question: In urban communities, how do youth workers engage adolescent youth in social justice activism? I found that adult youth workers at People for Change, a SJYD organization, maintained a consistent and multi-layered approach to supporting youth as they engaged in social justice activism. This paper highlights the ways in which adult youth workers (a) networked adult and youth supporters, (b) engaged in action, and (c) co-constructed knowledge with young people of color.

Radical Inquiry—Liberatory Praxis for Research and Evaluation

AbstractConventional social science research and evaluation too often replicate unjust and oppressive narratives and assumptions about young people of color's capacities, abilities, and needs, treating them primarily, and sometimes solely, as risk, problem, or disease. Overemphasis on “metrics of compliance,” such as personal behavior change, self‐efficacy, and resilience perpetuate this burden while ignoring those of survival, fortitude, and resistance in the context of structural/historical subjugation, discrimination, and state‐sanctioned violence communities of color have endured as part of US nation‐building. Invisible, insidious, and assumed, the dominant tropes and frameworks render white middle‐class subjectivities as the gold‐standard of achievement, status, and success. RYSE Youth Center in Richmond, California, creates safe spaces grounded in social justice that build youth power for young people to love, learn, educate, heal, and transform lives and communities. Toward this, RYSE employs Radical Inquiry through intentional, active, and ongoing listening. Radical Inquiry facilitates connection, proximity, and empathy—humanization.

Intersectional Family Systems Approach: LGBTQ+ Latino/a Youth, Family Dynamics, and Stressors

ObjectiveWe developed an intersectional family systems framework to examine how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) Latino/a youth experience stressors stemming from familial resistance to their marginalized LGBTQ+ identities.BackgroundAnti‐LGBTQ+ sentiments surrounding LGBTQ+ young people of color's multiple marginalized identities shape stressors. Specifically, LGBTQ+ Latino/a youth navigate distressing family experiences, yet how such family dynamics influence their well‐being remains unclear.MethodBy qualitatively analyzing in‐depth interviews with 41 LGBTQ+ Latino/a young adults between 18 and 25 years of age who were either born in or had moved to the United States as children, we developed an intersectional family systems approach.ResultsAnti‐LGBTQ+ familial derogation shaped youth's stressors. Further, familial religious pressure constrained young people's identity expression. Finally, participants navigated their mental well‐being through familial identity management strategies.ConclusionBy advancing an intersectional family systems approach, we explicate the diverse ways LGBTQ+ youth of color perceive and respond to intersecting sources of oppression within their family systems.ImplicationsThese findings may inform service providers working with LGBTQ+ Latino/a young people and their families to improve mental health outcomes.

Cultivating Youth Engagement: Race &amp; the Behavioral Effects of Critical Pedagogy

Political scientists attribute gaps in participation between whites and people of color to unequal access to political resources, political efficacy, and weak affiliations to political parties. I argue that the content of civic education courses also matters. I theorize that if courses were to incorporate critical pedagogy—an educational approach that centers the agency and grassroots political action of marginalized groups—that young people of color would be more likely to participate in politics. I test this theory using an experiment distributed to nearly 700 14–18-year high schoolers in the Chicago area. I find that content informed by this pedagogical approach bolsters the willingness of Latinx and black youth to pursue multiple forms of political participation. Such an educational intervention, coupled with other teaching tools, may provide a way to prepare an increasingly diverse generation of young people for active participation within American democracy. It also reveals how civic education in schools can play a crucial role in processes of political socialization and engagement.

Association between perceived public stigma and suicidal behaviors among college students of color in the U.S.

BackgroundSuicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among college students and 10 to 34-year-olds in the U.S. While rates of suicide among young people of color have increased, less is known about factors that contribute to suicidality among racial minority students who are sorely underrepresented within existing research. Thus, we sought to explore the association between perceived public stigma of receiving mental health treatment and suicidality among Black, Asian Domestic, Asian International, Latinx, Multiracial, Arab/Arab American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and White college students. MethodsWe analyzed cross-sectional survey responses from racially diverse sample of 153, 635 college students who participated in the Healthy Minds Study from years 2007–2018. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine associations between perceived public stigma and suicide ideation, suicide planning, and suicide attempt. ResultsPerceived public stigma was significantly associated with greater odds of suicide ideation, planning, and attempt. Odds of having attempted suicide within the past year were significantly greater among Asian International and Black college students. Sexual minority students broadly, and bisexual students specifically, were also at elevated risk for suicidal behavior. LimitationsCross-sectional survey responses were assessed and causality cannot be determined. ConclusionsStudents who endorsed more perceived public stigma also reported significantly greater odds of having experienced suicide ideation, planning, and attempt within the past 12 months. Subsequent interventions should account for concerns surrounding public perceptions of stigma when working to prevent suicide among students of color.