“You Can’t Ignore Us:”‬ ‭A Phenomenology of Black Student Union Efforts to Rebuild Post-Pandemic

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 9:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Intergenerational Resistance, Agency and Power through Youth Activism

Abstract

Given the sociopolitical climate post-pandemic, Black Education Spaces (BES) within schools remain critical (Bell & Sealey-Ruiz, 2023; Warren & Coles, 2020). This phenomenological study focuses on how young people, through their high school Black Student Union (BSU), prioritized racial healing to disrupt anti-Black sentiment after returning in person to school. This paper explores Black female youth organizing in the American Southwest through a community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) and Black girl pedagogy (Hill, 2018) lens. Specifically, this study asked: How did BSU leaders (class of 2023) rebuild their affinity safe space amidst club advisor changes, a decreasingly diverse school administration team, and a lack of culturally responsive teachers? Findings highlight youth expectations of adult co-conspirators and identify three key rebuilding components.

Author

• Celina German, Arizona State University