“Español Con Libertad”: Community-Based Organizations Fostering Racialized Social Ties for Latinx Immigrant Youth

• In Event: Towards Altermundos: Racial Literacies and Racial Sense-Making of Latinx/e/o/a, Indigenous, Latin American-Origin Youth

Abstract

Introduction/Objective:
This study contributes to educational and sociological literature about immigrant youth who are foreign and native born, or first- and second-generation immigrant youth. Given the current policy and immigration context, there is a critical need for spaces that provide Latinx immigrant youth with a sense of safety and belonging (Rodriguez, 2024). While much of the literature focuses on school-based relationships for Latinx youth, we argue that community-based organizations (CBOs) are important places for Latinx youth, especially when schools are not a welcoming place for this population.

This embedded intrinsic case study explores how the organizational practices of one immigrant-serving CBO in the mid-Atlantic region we call Mis Raices y My Voces (MRMV), contribute to Latinx immigrant youth’s racialized social ties formation. We also explore how Latinx immigrant youth perceive the organizational impact of MRMV on their sense of belonging.

Perspectives/Theoretical framework:
We connect to past research on the importance of social capital development through relationships and organizations (Ray, 2019; Rodriguez, 2019; Small, 2009). We build on Small’s (2009) concept of social ties to show how immigrant-serving CBOs can provide Latinx immigrant youth with a sense of belonging through racialized social ties. We define racialized social ties as relationships shaped by youths’ shared experiences of racialization, systemic discrimination, and marginalization.

Research Context, Methods, and Modes of Inquiry:
We utilized data from a larger explanatory sequential mixed methods design (Creswell & Creswell, 2014) to investigate the factors that shaped Latinx immigrant youth belonging in schools and CBOs. We engaged in multiple sources of data collection to provide an in-depth understanding of the case of the CBO and its impact on Latinx immigrant youth’s social belonging, social and organizational tie formation, and how the organizational impact manifested in shaping their positive sense of self, aspirations, and sense of belonging. Data includes participant observations, pre/post surveys of youth’s sense of belonging, interviews, and student artifacts. We conducted qualitative analyses of this data, which was collected during our three years of fieldwork at MRMV.

Data/Findings:
In our study, we found that MRMV provides opportunities for youth to create racialized social ties with both their peers and adults through their curriculum and fostering caring student-student and adult-student relationships. Within CBO programming structure, belonging for Latinx youth emerged through three key mechanisms: providing opportunities for youth to feel ownership of the program, facilitating identity exploration that fostered solidarity, and offering a curriculum or lesson plan that enabled youth to envision future aspirations while considering their realities as Latinx immigrants. Beyond program design, relationships were central to fostering belonging. We find that both adult-to-youth and youth-to-youth relationships contributed significantly to creating these inclusive and supportive spaces, which were largely based on common racial/ethnic identities or language abilities.

Implications/Recommendations:
We argue that racialized social ties within a CBO can help Latinx immigrant youth mitigate systemic and macro-level barriers (e.g., anti-immigrant immigration policies or migration barriers) as well as provide them with a sense of belonging and collective empowermen

Authors

• Sophia Rodriguez, New York University

• Melissa Ortiz, New York University