Cultivating Asian American Critical Consciousness With Racialized Youth Through Community-Based Education

• In Event: Examinations of the Relational Racialization of Asian Americans in Education

Abstract

Studies have shown that learning about their own histories and cultures - for instance, in Asian American Studies courses - is important to developing Asian Americans’ sense of identity and commitment to social justice (Das Gupta, 2019; Tintiangco-Cubales et al., 2015; Trieu & Lee, 2017). This research connects with a broader literature that finds culturally relevant pedagogy and ethnic studies curriculum in both in- and out-of-school spaces are successful in academically engaging youth of color and activating their consciousness of the world around them (e.g., Bajaj, Argenal, & Canlas, 2017; Cammarota, 2016; Urrieta, 2013). Using data from a qualitative study of a Chicago-area community-based organization that I call Korean Americans for Social Justice (KASJ), this paper contributes to this literature by investigating the pedagogical practices that youth workers engaged to nurture Asian American and Latinx youth as leaders and organizers. I further argue that these practices reveal a uniquely Asian American politic, which informed the organization’s understanding of critical consciousness and organizing.

The paper’s employs the Freirean concepts of critical pedagogy and critical consciousness to analyze the practices of KASJ youth programs (Freire, 2013). Specifically, I utilize Tintiangco-Cubales and Duncan-Andrade’s (2021) model of community-responsive pedagogy, which “centers the wellness of students by providing them an education where they feel valued, cared for, and humanized.” Community-responsive educators focus on caring relationships, curriculum rooted in youths’ lived experiences, and youths’ well-being. Community-responsive pedagogy works to awaken youths’ critical consciousness and encourages them to act towards racial justice.

This paper’s findings draw upon a larger qualitative investigation of KASJ. Between March 2021 and September 2022, I conducted participant observations of programming, staff meetings, and informal youth gatherings; interviewed 20 youth and staff; and collected site documents (e.g., youth-produced artwork). In this paper, I focus on two youth programs called Growing Youth Action (GYA) and Young Feminist Leaders (YFL). Data analysis was done through an iterative process, in which fieldwork and analysis informed and built upon each other.

Although KASJ was an Asian American organization, Chicago’s history of segregation and displacement has led to more Latinx youth in their programming over the past several years. Within this context, I found that KASJ youth workers (all Asian American) worked to teach youth about Asian American issues and history and link them with those of other racialized and marginalized groups. For instance, youth workers developed workshops that highlighted coalitional social movements both in and outside of the United States to demonstrate shared histories of struggle. Moreover, GYA and YFL pedagogy reflected the lived experiences of urban, working class, and immigrant Asian American and Latinx youth by incorporating an explicit focus on race, class, U.S. empire, gender, and geography. KASJ’s practices reveal an intersectional approach to Asian American critical consciousness that emphasized the linkages between Asian and Latinx youths’ experiences. The findings contribute to the growing literature on the development of Asian American critical consciousness (Lin, 2020; Nguyen & Quinn, 2018; Osajima, 2007) by examining how critical Asian American perspectives can influence racialized youth more broadly.

Author

• Eujin Park, Stanford University