‘The Young Always Inherit the Revolution’: A Study of the Police Free Schools Campaign in Los Angeles County (Poster 30)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 3:20 p.m.
  In Invited Poster Session: 2025 AERA Undergraduate Fellows Research Poster Fair

Abstract

George Floyd’s murder in 2020 catalyzed a critical interrogation of policing and ongoing public discussion about the meaning of community safety. The targeted proliferation of surveillance, repression and violence committed by the LAPD against Black and Latinx communities is well documented. However, there is a long legacy of communities organizing against and resisting police violence that is overlooked. Iterating this legacy, the Los Angeles Police-Free Schools Campaign successfully reallocated $25 million of police funding into support for Black students' mental health, well-being, and academic achievement in L.A County (2021). This study draws on 23 hour-long, semi-structured interviews with adult and youth organizers involved with the Police Free Schools Campaign between 2018-2022. Through deductive reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), we observe and detail four different kinds of relationships youth are likely to develop in response to carcerality: relationship to self; to community; to movement; and to future. Finally, this study underscores the importance of uplifting evidence-based-practices within schools that community organizers and stakeholders advocate for as an alternative to technologies of punishment and/or surveillance.

Author

• Frank Anthony Godinez, Los Angeles Room and Board