The (Un)Making of Childhood: Schools' Role in Shaping the Lives of Black Foster Youth

• In Event: Black Liberatory Futures: Composing the Self and New Worlds

Abstract

Black children are not often provided the cultural and social benefits of childhood within public systems and Black foster youth are no exception. Despite growing awareness of the adultification of Black children, there is limited research on how Black children interpret and resist these narratives. Even less research focuses on Black foster youth, who maintain an inextricable relationship to the state. Using qualitative data collected from Black foster youth collegians reflecting on their experiences as children within public schools we uncover the powerful ways in which Black foster youth liberate themselves from white constructs of the child, pursue and re-make their own childhoods, and the adult-child relationships that make such liberations possible.

Authors

• Brianna Marche' Harvey, California State University - Fullerton

• Brande M. Otis, Northwestern