"Going Somewhere in Life" (Stage 2, 2:35 PM)

• In Event: e-Lightning Ed-Talk Session 4 - Stage 2

Abstract

This paper explores Black youth’s postsecondary trajectories as representative of Black habitus (Lofton & Davis, 2015; Merolla, 2014) and wake work (Sharpe, 2016). Drawing from my qualitative study on structural influences on six African American youth from a northeastern urban school district, I applied grounded theory to analyze for Black habitus and the hold. Participants experienced harbingers of illusive freedom and stability. They were conscious of antiBlackness, those who perpetrated it, and they acted and spoke against it. Although, Black youth did not name it, they were aware of its operation. Black habitus in the wake, may provide language to support and revive Black youth and their lives as they weather antiBlackness in their postsecondary preparations and transitions.

Author

• April Claytor, School District of Philadelphia