Illuminating the Educational Experiences of Black Foster Youth Using BlackCrit and Abolitionist Epistemologies

• In Event: Spatial and Temporal Dimensions of Black Student, Family, and Faculty Experiences

Abstract

In K-12 schools, Black foster youth face significant disenfranchisement including high rates of suspension, grade retention, and special education placement. Research on the educational journeys of foster youth frequently neglects racial differences, treating the group as homogeneous and failing to address the specific disadvantages Black foster youth face due to antiblack racism. This paper challenges deficit narratives by examining how these students navigate and resist oppressive educational environments. Moreover, it highlights the duality of schooling as both a site of suffering and a space of respite, explores how Black foster youth resist antiblack racism in the classroom and how thick solidarity with school personnel can begin to remedy and repair the harm caused by the education system.

Author

• Brianna Marche' Harvey, California State University - Fullerton