When WE See Us: Commentary on Black Adolescent Research by Black Male Youth Activists

Abstract

Research viewed exclusively through the lenses of adults, even good‐meaning adults, in some respects can strip young people of their agency to create knowledge about their world and their conditions. Given this reality, this commentary departs from traditional forms of research about adolescents to make spaces for Black male adolescents and young men to make sense of, and highlight their own connection to, research. It is our hope that scholars and practitioners who are interested in supporting Black youth will gather insights from our experiences, and hopefully use them to elevate the agency of Black youth in their schools and communities.

Dismantling systems of racism and oppression during adolescence: An agenda for anti‐racist research

“…Certainly, scholars of youth participatory action research already exemplify this approach to sharing power with youth and more fully including their views and perspectives in research design and interpretation (Fine et al, 2021; Toraif et al, 2021). Several examples in the special series highlight different ways that youth can be more fully included in research, including as co‐authors of papers (Turner et al, 2022) and as advisors that help shape research projects (Ortega‐Williams et al, 2022). Youth participation in research falls along a continuum ranging from simply being passive subjects studied by researchers to actively leading and authoring work (Hart, 1992; Shamrova & Cummings, 2017).…”

“…The papers in our special series have well documented the harms of racism to adolescents of color from historically minoritized racial and ethnic groups (Cooper, Burnett, et al, 2022; English et al, 2022; Loyd et al, 2022; Torres et al, 2022; Uink et al, 2022; Zong et al, 2022). Many have also documented how research can harm adolescents of color, such as the Black boys and young men who commented on these harms in our special series (Turner et al, 2022). The special series tells a multifaceted yet unified story that it is time for a paradigm shift in research on adolescence where more of us are explicitly and intentionally striving toward an anti‐racist research agenda.…”

Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble: Expanding Thinking and Research on Youth of Color’s Resistance to Oppression

“…Halgunseth et al., 2022; Witherspoon et al., 2022). Jacob “Blacc” Jackson shared his personal story about being criminalized and pushed out of high school for a single mistake (Turner et al., 2022, this volume). The field must support work that eliminates school inequities and redresses harms perpetuated by schools.…”

“…We wanted youth of color and the ways they resist oppression to have the last word in this series. Indeed, youth literally get the last word in this special section, as Dr. David Turner III facilitated a space for his Black youth organizer colleagues to express their views about the power and perils of research and recommendations to researchers who study Black youth (Turner et al., 2022, this volume). To set the stage for the papers that follow, we introduce four threads that run through the special section.…”