“Life is really worth living”: Cultivating Latinx Young People’s Experiences of Radical Healing

• In Event: Healing and Trauma Across Learning Contexts: BIPOC Youth Perspectives and Practices

Abstract

Radical healing is the process of becoming whole in the face of ethno-racial trauma by institutional systems rooted in white supremacy, patriarchy, and xenophobia. Grounded in Radical Healing frameworks and Chicanx Feminist epistemologies, this research draws on data from a larger community engaged research project in which I co-developed a holistic learning and sanctuary space alongside community partners. The co-developed sanctuary space embodied healing for Latinx immigrant-origin youth, who have matriculated through U.S. educational systems and who experience legalized violence. Specifically, this study explores how Latinx, immigrant-origin young people learn about and develop understandings of healing for themselves. This study draws on critical participatory action research with an EntreMundos lens and uses photovoice and pláticas methodologies to interrogate community partner’s experiences in the U.S. school systems, the trauma experienced, as well as potential sites for healing. Thirteen (13) Latinx immigrant-origin youth between the ages of 18- 24 years old participated as co-researchers in Unidos en Acción, a program I developed to better understand the experiences of trauma and healing of Latinx immigrant-origin youth. Findings indicate that having safe spaces that provide physical, emotional, and spiritual sanctuary allows youth to engage in vulnerable sharing while also interrogating their experiences of trauma. Findings also indicate that connecting to intergenerational and ancestral wisdom and participating in meaningful social action for the betterment of their communities contributes to the radical healing experiences of Latinx young people.

Author

• Saraí Blanco Martinez, University of Michigan