Geographies of Youth Resistance: Understanding Youth of Color’s Activism in Suburban Schools

• In Event: Working Toward Adult-Youth Solidarity: Understanding the Possibilities and Challenges in and Out of Schools

Abstract

Purpose:
As youth of color transform the demographic landscape of predominantly white suburban schools, they face academic and social costs (Chambers, 2022). These marginalizing experiences serve as “civic lessons” that shape their sociopolitical identities and activism (Clay & Rubin, 2020). Despite the long history of youth activism, little is known about what that looks like in suburban contexts. I build upon existing literature at the intersection of suburban education and youth voice, and activism to understand the issues that shape and drive youth of color’s activism in suburban schools. This critical ethnographic project centers on the experiences of 12 students of color at Meadowland High School (MHS, pseudonym), a predominantly white suburban school outside of Des Moines, Iowa. This study is guided by the following question: How do youth of color use activism to hold their school accountable for its espoused equity commitments?

Framework:
I frame and make sense of data through a critical youth studies (CYS) perspective to examine the interplay between adults and youth – more specifically issues related to power and control (Best, 2007; Gordon, 2010; Kwon, 2013). CYS scholars note that the introduction of “critical” to youth studies is intended, “to identify the critical theoretical notion that the study of youth is political; the context of being a youth has everything to do with how agencies of power work, and how this affects young women and men” (Ibrahim, 2014). In so doing, CYS allows for a nuanced understanding that centers youth as the unit of analysis since it is important to understand youth “as active political subjects in their own right” (Kwon, 2013, p. 19).

Methods & Data Analysis:
Critical ethnographic fieldwork (Madison, 2019) was collected over two school years (2021-2023). 12 (10 female & 2 male) students of color were purposefully recruited and shadowed through participant observations of their classrooms (e.g., English) and afterschool activities (e.g., club meetings, protests). Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted in person and via Zoom with each participant. Artifacts and documents (e.g., student work) were also collected. Using ATLAS.ti, data analysis entailed three rounds of inductive and deductive thematic coding. Reflective memos were constructed to help make sense of fieldwork and emerging themes during data analysis.

Results & Significance:
Analysis examines youth of color’s search for adult solidarity and accountability. Findings showcase youth’s activism taking place amid a schooling environment that ghosted and gaslighted them. By ghosting, I refer to how educators renege on their commitments to support students' academic and social well-being. By gaslighting, I refer to how adults critique, deny, and place blame upon students when they voice their grievances and seek action.

While research has highlighted the need and positive impact of incorporating student voice in creating justice-oriented schools (Rombalski, 2020; Welton et al., 2022), educators struggle to engage and empower youth on issues they care about (Hess & McAvoy; 2014; Kahne et al., 2021). As suburban schools continue to change demographically, youth’s grievances and activism are instructive in cultivating and sustaining liberatory outcomes.

Author

• Gabriel Rodriguez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign