There’s a Long Line of Hands Carrying Your Name: Black school counselors and (Re)storying K-12 Schools for Black youth.

• In Event: Reimagining Youth Agency: Pedagogies of Voice, Power, and Possibility

Abstract

Context & Purpose
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Ring the Alarm report (2020) details the significant mental health trends impacting Black youth. In particular, Black youth are experiencing a rise in mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression, along with increased risk of suicide. The realities of this trend are ever present in P-12 schools where schools are often the site of dehumanizing conditions that overlay the mental health and social emotional needs of Black youth. In response, authors engaged Black school counselors to understand key approaches to supporting healing, growth, and Joy with Black youth.

Theoretical Framework
This work centers homeplace, Black joy, and freedom dreaming. Homeplaces are the spaces and moments where Black students can experience a joyful resistance that protects their humanity while allowing for their healing and growth (hooks, 1990; Author & Colleague, 2022; Author et al., 2022). This isn’t a space that denies the realities and impact of anti-Blackness or other forms of oppression, but rather recognizes that Black students are more than the sorrow and pain as a result of such (hooks, 1990; Love, 2020). When conditions create homeplace for Black youth, it welcomes Black joy and freedom dreaming (Kelley, 2022), which not only supports mental health but also engages students and families in creating the world they need. In particular, Black joy invites Black youth to experience the fullness of their humanity, “knowing their full selves are celebrated” as they embrace their connection to the Black diaspora (Love, 2020, p. 120).

Methods
The present study uses qualitative inquiry to provide depth of knowledge to the experiences of the participants. More specifically, a narrative approach was used to gather stories and experiences of the participants (Hays & Singh, 2012). These stories were analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith, 1996), which allowed for detailed examinations of the lived experiences of participants on its own terms.

Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials: The study involved a purposeful sample of 10 Black school counselors who work in K-12 schools and at the district level. The majority of participants have experience in more urban settings where they serve at minimum 25-50% BIPOC student population.

Findings
In keeping with IPA as a tool for data analysis, thick, in-depth descriptions are presented to illustrate the experiences of participants. Black school counselors engage in purposeful activities that humanize Black students across a wide range of experiences. These include 1) affirming racial realities outside of school, 2) creating Black fugitive spaces in school, 3) engaging and supporting Black joy & resistance in the school setting.

Scholarly Significance
These findings offer possibilities and hope for Black youth by way of Black school counselors. In particular, while antiracism and abolition have gained traction in the field, few studies situate the expertise of Black school counselors who hold deep connections both personally and professionally to this work. Their expertise disrupts the white canon of counselor education and calls for a critical examination of the impact of Black school counselors on students and the school community as a whole.

Authors

• Renae D. Mayes, University of Arizona

• Riley Drake, University of Wisconsin - Stout

• Adrianne Robertson, Rowan University

• Carla B. Cheatham, Seattle University

• Betsy Marina Perez, California State University - Fullerton