Credible Messengers, Transformation and the Community

• In Event: The Critical Theory and Practice of the Credible Messenger Movement: Why Solidarity, Love and Consciousness Matter.

Abstract

At the heart of credible messenger initiatives is a belief that youth belong in the community and not in systems, including youth prisons. Youth are seen as an integral part of the community and, more specifically, the local wards where they are from. At the same time, youth should be safe from harm and violence that often trails structurally marginalized communities of color. Thus, credible messengers face great challenges in attempting to shield youth from the reach of the juvenile justice system and keeping them safe in the community. For many of the credible messengers I studied, this was a personal mission that went beyond their role descriptions. In this presentation based on four years of qualitative research evaluating a credible messenger intervention I will discuss the following three themes that emerged from the data that spoke not just to the transformation of youth subjects but to the transformation of the messengers themselves: (i) the credibility of messengers; (ii) articulating and navigating structural violence; and (iii) redemption revisited. These themes shed light on a major though little understood factor behind the success of such interventions.

Author

• Rod Martinez, Howard University