Black women have played an integral role in Black liberation struggles. Yet there is little psychological scholarship on Black women’s contribution to social justice movements, particularly beyond conventional forms of activism, such as protesting and voting. To address this gap, the current study draws on Black feminist epistemology to present a multidimensional framework of Black college women’s sociopolitical development. Using consensual qualitative research methods, we analyzed semistructured interview data from 65 Black college women (18-24 years) to explore their understandings of agency, civic engagement, and resistance. Eight themes emerged— gaining knowledge, self-advocacy, sisterhood, self-love, educating others, collective organizing and leadership, community care, and career aspirations. Our results situate Black college women’s activism within a sociohistorical framework of Black feminist organizing and underscore the overlapping roles of self-awareness, interpersonal relationships, and institutional knowledge. The authors discuss how the contemporary racial and sociopolitical climate in the United States informed the participants’ social justice orientation and how their involvement and investment in the Black community helped the participants reframe racial violence and oppression into narratives of resistance and healing.
Critical action-behaviours aimed at dismantling systems of oppression-must be examined within youths' racialized experiences and should incorporate cultural and sociohistorical factors. We considered an expansive list of items capturing youth behaviours to create a novel four-factor (service, community change, expression, and care) measure of critical action for Asian and Hispanic/Latinx youth. Multiple distinct profiles of critical action were identified within both racial-ethnic groups, and associations between the profiles and sociodemographic and contextual support variables were explored. Gender differences in the type of critical action were found in both racial-ethnic groups, pointing to the potential influence of gender roles on critical action among these populations. Differences in critical action patterns were also found between those born in the U.S. versus those born outside the U.S.; access to critical action may differ within racial-ethnic groups depending on birthplace and associated nuances in familial and cultural contexts. This paper demonstrated a need for attending to variation between and within groups in the study of critical action in order to effectively support racialized youth's coping within and resistance against systems of oppression.
Although Black students may share race-related experiences at predominantly White institutions (PWIs), they are a heterogeneous community with diverse identity beliefs, goals, and expectations about college. In the current study, we foreground how Black students at PWIs understand their racialized identities in relation to one another and within the broader university context. Drawing from interview data with 32 Black undergraduate students, we explore intraracial academic and social norms at two PWIs, with a particular focus on how students’ intersectional identities inform their relationships and experiences with other Black students. We add to the growing literature that actively challenges the homogenization of Black student populations and discuss how intraracial norms contribute to students’ campus adjustment and sense of belonging.
The COVID‐19 pandemic and violence against people of Color during 2020 brought troubling racial inequities to the forefront of American discourse. In line with the Critical Consciousness (CC) and Social Justice Youth Development (SJYD) frameworks, emerging adults may have developed their capacity for critical reflection, motivation, and action against systemic inequities. We drew from interviews with 27 emerging adults (ages 18–23) across the US, and used thematic analysis to explore differences in their reflections, motivations to act, and actions based on their racial/ethnic identification. We found nuanced variability in their critical reflections based on self, social, or global awareness and experiences of marginalization. White and Asian emerging adults used vague language or expressed feeling their reflections were insufficient. Black and Latinx emerging adults emphasized the importance of education and raising awareness. Although all emerging adults took action based on a sense of duty, few engaged in critical action; decisions to take in‐person action varied based on whether they viewed racism or COVID‐19 as a greater threat. Findings demonstrate that emerging adults' experiences of racialization may have related to their CC development. We share implications for community psychologists conducting antiracist research addressing White fragility and dismantling racial hierarchy.
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