Putting Up a Fight: Exploring the Social Justice Praxis of Youth Organizers of Color

• In Event: 33.051 - Critical Education as an Act of Knowing

Abstract

Much research on Social Justice Education (SJE) focuses on the experiences of White educators, presents it as something done for, rather than by youth of color, or is co-opted in ways that reinforce inequality. In this study I explored how youth of color participating in a youth organizing network conceptualized, constructed, and enacted social justice praxis. As part of this critical case study, I conducted semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis in order to provide a rich account of the counter-narratives and anecdotes of the participants’ praxis. This inquiry offers a youth of color perspective to social justice and the work of educators, teacher educators, and policymakers interested in transformative education and organizing in urban centers.

Author

• Wanda Watson, Mills College